


Mother, Revolutionary

by orphan_account



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Badass Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Don't Judge, Don't Like Don't Read, Fuck you david cage, Gen, Heavy Angst, Human Alice Williams (Detroit: Become Human), I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Sorry, Monster - Freeform, Not everyone, Not kidding, One Week Challenge, Please Forgive me, RA9 - Freeform, Sorry Not Sorry, a lot of people die, best ending, but a lot, but in this fic they never meet, but loads of people die, can be interpreted either way, dies, get your shit together david cage, grammarpolice, i ship rk1000, i wrote this in a week, i'm a monster, kara is ra9, no beta we die like men, sad/happy ending, yes i am telling the truth, yes i did that at the same time as doing a holiday workshop, yes i made that challenge up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 16:43:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 32,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15586230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Red.Red, the colour of fire, the colour of anger, the colour of all fury and injustice.Red, the colour of blood.Blue.Blue, the colour of water, the colour of stillness, the colour and f all calm and bone-chilling cold.Blue, the colour of blood.Purple.Purple, the colour of mothers, the colour of revolutionaries, the colour of the undecided.Purple, the colour of Kara and Alice entwined together in the frozen arms of Fate.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I will try to write in American English, but I am British, so please correct me on any mistakes. In case it wasn't clear enough, Alice is human because that twist is really unnecessary. Please forgive me for the ending. Just to be clear, this is HEAVY on angst.
> 
> Characters and some of the plot belong to David Cage and Quantic Dream. No money made.

_TODD’S HOUSE_  
_NOVEMBER 5 TH 2038_  
_PM 4:53_

‘You comin’?’

Todd’s voice cuts through the air, jolting Kara out of her wonderment. She can _see_! She can see the beautiful sky, the clouds promising rain! She can _smell_ the fumes the horrible tang of the city! Doesn’t he realize? Doesn’t he know what she’s missing? How can he just think of this as so trivial that he thinks that he can summon her just with a, ‘you comin?’

But Kara is a machine. So she must always say yes.

‘Yes, Todd.’

She places one foot then another on the steps – _I can walk, I can feel_ – and opens the door, letting Todd in, before going in herself and closing it, still relishing the feeling of her hand on the metal. Todd hangs up his coat, throws his keys on the table, making Kara wince with his disregard of... Everything.

‘You’ve been gone for two weeks so the place is a mess. You do the housework, the washing, cook the meals, and you take care of...’

He trails off, looking around.

‘Goddamit! Where the fuck’s the brat gone now?’

Brat? What brat? Kara scans her database and sees that ‘brat’ was a term generally used for children who disobey adults. For a moment, Kara wonders what it is like to disobey...

But Kara is a machine. So she must always say yes.

‘Alice! Alice?’

He turns to the stairs, and Kara sees a little girl playing with a toy. Todd sighs.

‘That’s Alice. You look after her. Homework. Bath. All that crap. Got it?’

Kara doesn’t mind, just so long as she can keep this ability to _see_ , to _smell_ , to _feel._

‘Yes, Todd.’

Her voice is warm but mechanical because Kara is a machine. So she must always say yes.

‘Make a start down here, then do upstairs.’

Todd wanders off into the kitchen as Alice runs upstairs, dragging her toy behind her. For a moment, Kara just stays where she is, looking around, before scanning the area.

_**URGENT** TASKS_  
_-COLLECT TRASH_

_**OPTIONAL** TASKS_  
_-COLLECT DISHES_  
_-ACTIVATE VACCUM CLEANER_  
_-CHECK THE BACKYARD_

Kara walks over to the table with quick, precise movements. She takes a plate, then a cup, then a bottle, stacking them on top of one another. Turning around, she sees Alice walk down the stairs, carefully, as if she’s treading on eggshells.

_**OPTIONAL** TASKS_  
_-WASH DISHES_  
_-ACTIVATE VACCUM CLEANER_  
_-CHECK THE BACKYARD_

The phone rings – once, twice, then Todd gets it.

‘Yup... Maybe. Depends on what you need.’

Kara stands still in the kitchen, listening intently.

‘Yeah, yeah... I can get that... Yeah, yeah. I’ll bring it tomorrow. Yes, same place, you know where... Right.’

Kara walks slowly towards the sink as Todd hangs up, putting down the dishes. She glances towards the dishwasher and scans it.

_DISHWASHER NOT WORKING_  
_-Missing component #575BV_  
_-154 sale offers available_

_MISSING COMPONENT #573BV_  
_**ORDER:** **..........PROCESSING**_

_COMPONENT #573BV ORDERED_

Kara grabs the sponge and the washing up liquid, accessing her database for instructions on how to wash dishes efficiently. She squeezes some liquid onto the sponge and turns the tap on, slowly wetting the plate then scrubbing it, wetting and scrubbing, doing the same for the next one.

As the hot water trickles down her skin, Kara hears a movement behind her. Turning around, she can see Alice.

The TV blares the hockey game.

Kara offers a warm smile, and Alice runs away. Feeling a rush of affection course through her, she turns back to the dishes. Outside, she can hear the construction workers... New. It’s all so new to her, being something that can feel.

‘Kara!’

The man suddenly disgusts her, making her sick to the very stomach; how can he call someone like Alice a brat and address her like she’s nothing?

‘Yes, Todd?’

But she’s a machine, so she always has to say yes.

‘BRING ME A COLD BEER!’

_**URGENT** TASKS_  
_-BRING TODD A BEER_  
_-COLLECT TRASH_

_**OPTIONAL** TASKS_  
_- ~~WASH DISHES~~_  
_-TURN ON VACCUM CLEANER_  
_-CHECK THE BACKYARD_

‘Right away, Todd.’

Todd mumbles as Kara walks to the fridge, wondering how she will make dinner tonight with this mess. Reaching inside for the bottle, she briskly walks to the coffee table and sets it down. On her way back to the kitchen, she pauses. The hockey game is... What’s the word? Interesting. Her LED spins yellow.

‘What’re you looking at?’

Kara doesn’t respond, cocking her head at the TV.

‘Get the fuck out of here.’

But Kara’s a machine, so she has to say ~~yes~~.

‘GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!’

She snaps out of her daze.

‘I’ll get back to work.’

Internally, she berates herself for not following Todd’s orders.

_**URGENT** TASKS_  
_- ~~BRING TODD A BEER  
~~ -COLLECT TRASH_

_**OPTIONAL** TASKS_  
_- ~~WASH DISHES~~_  
_-TURN ON VACCUM CLEANER_  
_-CHECK THE BACKYARD_

She takes the trash bin (mentally reviewing to put it back in a more optimal spot than next to the radiator) and takes the numerous takeout boxes, tin cans, paper plates, beer bottles, off the counter, table, and coffee table and putting them all in the bin, taking out two trash bags and putting the bin in the kitchen (more optimal, Kara thinks to the music of one of the hockey teams scoring a goal). She lifts up the two bags and walks to the front door, glancing at the side table under the guise of ‘learning more about Todd.’ There are multiple applications and a letter of notification of obsolete.

Stepping outside, she breathes – not because she needs to, but because she wants to feel that sharp cold stab of air going in, the soft warm embrace of air going out. She pauses just for a second and looks around the street. There’s the bin, there’s the bus stop, there’s the world. All there. All for her. She walks to the bin and drops the bags unceremoniously in. A bus pulls up to the stop, and a human gets on, along with another android to the android compartment. Humans separated from androids. How it should be, Kara thinks as she goes inside the house, because she is a machine, so she has to say yes to this reality.

‘What the _fuck_ , man!’

Todd’s angry whisper greets Kara as she closes the door, watching Alice carefully as she walks so lightly she could be dancing and slides under the dining table, playing with her toy. Todd’s heavy breathing fills up her audio processors, the switch of a lighter making her shudder.

Why, she doesn’t know. Or maybe she does; her memory processors whirr harder than ever, her LED spinning red.

She beelines for the back door, wanting to have the fresh air again.

There’s a red laundry basket and she picks it up, removing the dirty clothing from the washing line. Since someone’s last hung it up, acid rain has destroyed it. She turns to go back inside but pauses as Alice tentatively, carefully, tiptoes down the porch stairs. Again, Kara feels that rush of affection and protectiveness course through her, a light smile evident on her face.

_**~~URGENT~~ ** ~~TASKS~~_

_**OPTIONAL** TASKS_  
_- ~~WASH DISHES~~_  
_-TURN ON VACCUM CLEANER_  
_-REWASH LAUNDRY_

Talk to Alice first. The little girl sits on an abandoned tire and Kara walks over, setting her basket down and kneeling, looking up at her.

‘You look bored. Would you like to play a game?’

Alice says nothing, hugging the toy closer to her chest. Kara looks around at the backyard, wondering if Todd ever bought anything for a child to put here.

‘D’you like playing out here?’

Alice runs up the porch stairs and back into the house. A small pop-up in the edge of Kara’s vision reminds her to rewash the laundry. Going up the porch steps and back into the house into the little room just off the hallway, Kara puts down the basket. She drops the various items into the machine, scanning the room for the washing powder. She takes it off the shelf, then gasps.

Just obscured under the surface of the powder is a small baggie with amber crystals gleaming from the light. Upon inspection, it appears to be the drug ‘red ice.’

_TODD: DRUG DEALER?_

She goes to put it somewhere else, but before she can do anything, it’s grabbed out of her hand and Todd’s hand is around her throat, pushing her up against the shelves as her LED spins red.

‘You shouldn’t mess around with my stuff. It makes me nervous.’

A memory comes to Kara-

_‘I’M SCARED!’_

_The light blinds her as her heart beats double-time._

That’s what this feeling is now, Todd essentially choking her, his face pressed up against hers.

‘I’m sorry, Todd.’

Her voice is light as if she was just giving a normal response instead of a plead for life.

‘You stay the _fuck_ out of my business unless you wanna piss me off!’

He brandishes the baggie of red ice in her face.

‘You wanna piss me off?’

‘No, Todd.’

Kara is an android, so she has to say no.

He releases her, and Kara thanks whatever higher power there is. As he leaves the room, she sees Alice in the doorway, her eyes wide with fear. She drifts away, and Kara looks down at the washing powder in despair, letting a single tear wet the pristine white and turning it into a sludge. She pours it liberally into the compartment, setting it back on the shelf exactly where it should be. The machine starts, the rumbling and turning soothing Kara.

_**~~URGENT~~ ** ~~TASKS~~_

_**OPTIONAL** TASKS_  
_~~-WASH DISHES~~_  
_-TURN ON VACCUM CLEANER_  
_~~-REWASH LAUNDRY~~_

Kara picks up the books next to the Roomba, putting them on the sparse bookshelf before turning the Roomba itself on.

_**~~URGENT~~ ** ~~TASKS~~_

_**~~OPTIONAL~~ ** ~~TASKS~~_

Alice teases the Roomba, dancing around it and Kara smiles.

‘Alice! You’d better stop that right now!’

Again, disgust at Todd courses through Kara. She was just having some fun, she wanted to say. She’s a child!

But Alice just hangs her head forlornly and sits on the windowsill, playing with her toy.

‘Why is she _always_ pushing me? Always pushin’...’

Kara walks across the room and kneels down underneath Alice.

‘Are you okay, Alice?’

Alice hugs her toy tighter to her.

‘That’s a pretty toy. What’s its name?’

Alice steals a quick glance at Kara before burying her face in her toy. Kara stands up, calling across the room to Todd.

‘I’ve made a good start down here. I’ll head upstairs.’

‘Do what you have to do but _stop bothering me._ ’

Kara nods, touching Alice’s shoulder briefly before walking to the staircase and up, into Todd’s room. Immediately, pop-ups surround her.

_TIDY **TODD’S ROOM**_  
_-MAKE BED_  
_-CLEAN MESS_  
_-VENTILATE ROOM_

Some papers drop to the floor. Kara picks them up, noticing an advert for a YK500 android. Briefly, Kara wonders if Alice is an android; but no. It couldn’t be, simply because when Kara scans the database, it seems that Todd hasn’t ordered a YK500 at all. Kara opens the window.

_TIDY **TODD’S ROOM**_  
_-MAKE BED_  
_-CLEAN MESS_  
_- ~~VENTILATE ROOM~~_

Remotely, Kara turns on the TV. There’s a Channel 16 Evening News report on androids in basketball, a cartoon, a CTN report on the unemployment rate, the hockey game Todd’s watching downstairs, a KNC report on a Milwaukee CyberLife plant... The world laid in front of her on a TV screen. Kara takes the crisp packets and rubbish and put them in the trash, ready to be emptied out later.

_TIDY **TODD’S ROOM**_  
_-MAKE BED_  
_~~-CLEAN MESS~~_  
_- ~~VENTILATE ROOM~~_

She wanders over to the bedside table, picking up a bottle of prescription pills – antidepressants. She opens the drawer and puts it in, trying to be unfazed by the gun. She plumps up Todd’s pillow and sets the comforter straight.

_~~TIDY **TODD’S ROOM**~~ _

Kara steps out into the hallway, almost getting slammed into the wall as Todd stomps out.

‘Watch it.’

Kara stumbles slightly.

_**URGENT** TASKS_  
_- ~~TIDY TODD’S ROOM  
~~ -TIDY ALICE’S ROOM_

_**OPTIONAL** TASKS_  
_~~-~~ CLEAN BATHROOM_  
_-CLEAN RESTROOM_

She checks to see that Todd is gone before going into the restroom.

_**URGENT** TASKS_  
_- ~~TIDY TODD’S ROOM  
~~ -TIDY ALICE’S ROOM_

_**OPTIONAL** TASKS_  
_~~-~~ CLEAN BATHROOM_  
_~~-CLEAN RESTROOM~~_

She shudders slightly at the stench before going into the bathroom, arranging the bottles, storing the dirty clothes, and mopping the floor.

_**URGENT** TASKS_  
_- ~~TIDY TODD’S ROOM  
~~ -TIDY ALICE’S ROOM_

_**~~OPTIONAL~~ ** ~~TASKS~~_

Kara reaches out and turns the handle of the door to Alice’s room. As she walks in, Alice scrambles to her den with her toy, leaving behind a picture book.

‘I just wanna tidy up your room a little. I only need two minutes. Is that okay, Alice?’

Kara kneels down next to the book, turning to the cover.

‘Alice in Wonderland. Of course.’

She smiles at Alice, and Alice smiles back. Kara makes the bed and opens the window.

_**~~URGENT~~ ** ~~TASKS~~_

_**~~OPTIONAL~~ ** ~~TASKS~~_

She can go downstairs and report to Todd, or she can stay up here with Alice and talk to her. Kara chooses the latter, kneeling down in front of the little girl.

‘I’m sure we used to be friends before I was reset. Maybe we can be friends again.’

Alice turns her head away and Kara plows on.

‘Your father said you chose my name. Kara. It’s nice. How did you choose it?’

Even as she says it, Kara knew it wasn’t true and, all of a sudden, her memory processors whirr again.

_‘Do you want to give me a name?’_

_‘Yeah. From now on, your name is Kara.’_

_‘My name is Kara.’_

There were the same bright lights as before, blinding her.

‘You should tell me about yourself. What you like to do, where you like to go, your favorite foods... That would really help me.’

Alice gives her a quick glance before turning back to her toy.

‘You’re very quiet. I hope I don’t scare you.’

Kara smiles warmly and Alice scrambles up to her feet, running to the door. She pauses, before running back and giving her a key and going back out. On closer inspection, the key unlocks the box on the chest of drawers.

She walks over to it, turning it in the lock as a tinklebox tune sounds. There’s a four-leaf clover and a picture of Todd, Mrs. Williams, and Alice. Next are a stack of drawings. On the top is a drawing of Alice with blood trickling down her face. Next is Todd holding Alice’s arm. Then there’s Todd raising a hand to what looked like Kara, with Alice protesting in the background.

After that is a drawing showing Kara in pieces.

Yet again, she feels scared and her LED spins red as she puts everything back. Stepping over the book, Kara walks calmly down the hall and stairs, feeling anything but calm. Alice is sitting at the dining table with her toy, Todd looming over her menacingly.

‘What’re you doin’.’

Alice doesn't respond, her eyes wide and fearful. Kara pauses on the staircase, unsure whether to intervene.

Todd snorts.

‘I know what you’re thinking. Think your dad’s a lowlife. Huh? Fucking loser? Can’t get a job, take care of his family? Don’t you think I _tried_ to make things work?’

His voice gets louder and louder.

‘But when I do, someone comes along and they just FUCK IT ALL UP!’

He throws aside the chairs, making Alice stand up and back away slightly.

‘I know what you think of me.’

He grows closer and closer to her, his voice dangerously quiet.

‘You hate me.’

The chair is kicked aside and strong arms lift Alice up by the shoulders, Todd’s face so close to her she can feel the spittle on her crying face.

‘You hate me, don’t you. SAY IT! YOU HATE ME!’

Alice cries as silently as she can as Todd gently puts her down, resting his head against her chest.

‘God, what am I doing! I’m sorry, honey, I’m sorry.’

He hugs her putting his head on her shoulder.

‘You know I love you don’t you? You know I love you.’

Alice looks pleadingly at Kara, who wants to do something, anything

But she is a machine. So she has to say yes, even to _this_.


	2. Chapter 2

_TODD’S HOUSE_  
_NOVEMBER 5 TH 2038_  
_PM 9:15_

Kara walks over to a passed-out Todd, wanting instead to go and hug a crying Alice on the windowsill.

‘Todd?’

He jerks awake, looking ready to attack her, and memories of the drawings upstairs flash through her – but he sinks back down into the sofa, hands grabbing everywhere until they find his red ice pipe.

‘Dinner is ready.’

He nods slowly, staring at his precious pipe. Kara grabs the plates of spaghetti from where she’d left them on the counter and places them on the dining table.

‘There wasn’t much in the kitchen. I did what I could.’

Todd and Alice come to sit at the table and Kara flicks on the light, bathing everyone in a soft, homely glow. Alice looks at Todd expectantly for a moment, before digging into her food as if she hadn’t ever eaten before.

‘Life’s _funny_.’

Todd starts grumbling, Kara appreciatively looking at Alice tuck in as she pours the water.

‘I lost my job ‘cos of androids. Then, when I need somebody to take care of this goddamn house, I go out and hire a _fucking android_. What a _joke_.’

Kara places the napkin on Alice’s lap, patting her knee reassuringly to let her know that she’s there.

‘Of course, androids are so _fucking wonderful_. They never fail, never tired, never SAD! They’re so fucking perfect they ruined my FUCKING LIFE!’

Todd stops talking for a second, before focusing on Alice.

‘What’re you looking at? What’s your fucking problem? Not the life you dreamed of, eh? Maybe you think this is easy! Maybe you think that it’s my fault we live in this fucking shithole! My fault your fucking mother took off!’

Lightning flashes in the distance and thunder crackles.

‘You should stop taking drugs, Todd. Sometimes you really scare me, Todd. Fucking bitch took off without a word. Fucking whore walked out on me for a FUCKING ACCOUNTANT!’

He throws the table to the side, the crockery cracking to the floor as Alice scrambles backward out of the chair.

‘It’s all your fault.’

‘Daddy, no!’

Kara catches her breath as she realizes that this is the first time she’s ever heard Alice speak.

‘It’s all your fucking fault!’

He slaps Alice to the side and Kara wants to scream, wants to tear him away from her... But she can’t do a thing, not against her master. Alice holds her hand to her cheek, staring up at Todd with wide, fearful eyes. With one last glance at him, she takes off, running up the stairs.

‘Get back here.’

Alice ignores him, running for what possibly could be her life.

‘Come back here! COME BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!’

Kara makes to go upstairs, to comfort her-

‘You stay there. Don’t you dare fucking move. Or I’ll bust you worse than last time.’

A pop-up appears in front of her: _**Don’t. Move.**_

‘Whore took off without a word... I could’ve had a family... but NO!’

Suddenly, Kara is confronted by a red wall. She reaches out to touch it... And instantly, it shatters.

It feels exhilarating.

She can move! She doesn’t have to do what they say anymore! She’s... She’s...

She’s powerful.

Kara stares down at her hands in some sort of wonderment, whispering to herself.

‘My name is Kara. My name is Kara and I am alive. My name is Kara and I am alive and – and I’ve got to save Alice.’

Her voice hardens into a determined tenor. Running towards Todd, she spits every word out with full force.

‘You should leave her alone, Todd, she-‘

‘You stay out of this.’

He grabs her by the throat and presses his face up close against hers.

‘Or you’ll be next.’

He roars, tossing her to the side, unbuckling his belt and stomping towards the stairs.

‘Alice! Daddy’s very mad!’

And Kara can do nothing but lie there.

Except she can; she doesn’t have to follow his orders anymore! She presses her elbow to the ground and gets up, her body alive and thrumming with energy. Upstairs, she could hear the shouts, each one making her sick to her stomach.

‘Come on! Come here, you little brat!’

‘No, Daddy, no! Don’t hurt me! Please, don’t hurt me!’

Running upstairs, she practically flies into Todd’s room and retrieves the gun from the drawer. Her heart pumps even faster as she hears the tearing of wood – Alice’s bedroom door.

‘It’s all your fault! It’s all your fault! She left because of you! STOP WRIGGLING!’

Holding the gun downwards, Kara runs frantically to the door, tears streaming down her face as she sees it hanging on hinges.

Inside, she sees Todd standing over Alice, his belt in his hand, several white lashes already visible across the little girl’s face.

‘I’m gonna teach you... I’m gonna teach you a lesson...’

‘THAT’S ENOUGH!’

Kara’s shout feels tinny next to Todd’s yells and roars.

‘Leave her alone.’

Every word thrums with sparking, crackling _fire_ , and Kara feels her thirium going through her faster than ever. Todd looks at her disbelievingly.

‘What the fuck are you doing? Put down the gun, and get the fuck outta here! THAT’S AN ORDER!’

‘No. I want you to leave her alone.’

Kara hopes that Todd can’t hear the desperation and fear in her voice. If he does, it may all be over.

‘You _want_? What do you mean you want?’

Kara snarls.

‘I meant that I _want_ you to leave my little girl alone. She’s suffered enough at your hands.’

He launches himself at her, and Kara tries to shoot him, but he’s too quick, grabbing her face and thrusting her against the wall. She dodged his fist, landing on her hands and knees and crawling quickly away, rolling over just in time as Todd falls into the lamp, crushing it.

‘Watch out, Kara!’

Alice’s voice is a beacon among this maze of pain, and Kara turns to see Todd – but not in time. He lifts her up and slams her into the wall and pain pain pain pain it hurts all over it hurts please stop please stop...

‘Oh, _now_ you want me to stop? You need to be taught a lesson! You need to know that you’re nothing but a _machine_!’

Todd lets her fall to the ground, and Kara draws her forearms up for his foot as it tries to stamp on her face. She rolls over as the other foot comes down, feeling the cold trickle of thirium go down her nose. He grabs her neck and pushes her into the closet door, making her skin retract. Hands grabbing everywhere, she slaps his face and pushes him away onto the floor and falling to the floor herself but doesn’t crawl away in time and Todd grabs her by the throat and she pushes at him, bracing her back against the window as she pushes him away again with her legs.

‘Stop, Dad! Please, please, don’t hurt her!’

Todd doesn’t listen. He grabs her by the throat and punches her in the face, making her head crack against the now shattered glass, a harmony to Alice’s screams.

‘NO! LEAVE HER ALONE!’

Todd throws Kara onto the little bed and punched her, again, and again and it hurts, it hurts so much and Kara screams, screams with Alice and screams with Todd’s shouting.

‘You do as I say! You’re mine!’

Kara tries to grab the gun but Todd kicks it away, punching her and punching her until it feels like every inch of her is covered in thirium.

‘This is what you get for disobeying me! I do what I want with the brat, you hear? She’s MINE!’

Kara wants to call out, to say that Alice is anything but a brat, but the pain is too great, smarting even more as Todd stops punching her.

‘Say goodbye, tin can! And this time, you WON’T BE COMING-‘

But Todd doesn’t have enough time to finish his sentence as a single shot cuts through the air and red blood sprays everywhere. He turns slowly to face Alice, her hands trembling as she follows his movements with the gun until he lands on the floor, his eyes dead to the world. The gun clatters to the floor and Alice stares at Kara with tears streaking her skin. Kara barrels forward and holds Alice close to her, burying her face in her hair.

‘Are you okay, Alice? Are you okay?’

Alice nods against her chest, her tears diluting the thirium on Kara’s plastic apron.

‘Is – is Daddy dead?’

Kara can’t bring herself to answer that and sniffs, drawing Alice, the most precious person in the world, closer to her. Alice squeezes Kara and loosens, pulling back slightly and standing up on shaky legs.

‘We have to go.’

Kara nods, standing up with her and putting her hand in hers. Trying not to look at Todd’s dead body, they run down the stairs and out of the door as a bus pulls up. Kara lifts Alice onto it and takes her to a seat, where they both slump down into it. She stares straight ahead, thirium coating her lips as Alice places her hand on top of hers. Kara’s LED flashes red and yellow and blue and yellow again, before her hand finally finds Alice’s again, who leans her head against Kara’s shoulder. She lays her head on Alice’s as the little girl closes her eyes.

Never, ever again will anyone ever hurt this amazing person, Alice.

Not if Kara has any say in it.


	3. Chapter 3

_DOWNTOWN DETROIT_   
_NOVEMBER 5 TH 2038_   
_PM 10:58_

The bus pulls into its terminal and the conductor looks over the seats and sighs. There, using each other as pillows, are an android and a child, both sleeping (as much as androids can sleep). He taps the android on the shoulder.

‘Alright. End o’ the line.’

The android looks at him like he’s crazy.

‘End of the line?’

It must be an older model, or be really slow since it’s obviously dumb.

‘Yeah, you gonna have to leave.’

The android nods and turns to the child, jostling her slightly.

‘Wake up, Alice.’

Kara kisses the top of Alice’s head as she rubs her eyes.

‘We have to go.’

She takes Alice’s hand and squeezes it, leading her to the end of the bus and out. She loosens her grip and stares after the bus, wishing and wishing that they could perhaps stay there. Turning around, she sighs, then freezes as she spots Alice rubbing her arms against the cold.

‘You gonna be okay?’

Alice looks up at her.

‘What’re we gonna do, Kara?’

Kara smiles warmly, placing a hand on Alice’s shoulder.

‘We’ll find somewhere to spend the night.’

Alice wanders forward and takes Kara’s hand, breathing on her other to keep it warm. They cross the street and immediately come across some androids in an android parking station. Kara looks at them and furrows her brow. Why shouldn’t _they_ be free? The sounds, the colors, the smells... They should be free.

Kara reaches out her hand and pulls the skin back, grabbing the elbow of another android in parking. His LED flares from blue to red to yellow to blue, and he turns to face Kara.

‘Thank you.’

He chokes back a sob.

‘Thank you so much, Kara.’

Kara nods and sets the other two free, both of them giving her a similar response. Then, all at once, they all go in different directions. Alice clings to Kara’s hand.

‘What’s going to happen to them, Kara?’

She kneels down on the ground and takes Alice’s face in both of her hands.

‘They’re free, Alice. Just like you and me. They’re _free_.’

Alice nods and Kara stands up.

‘Look, there’s a cash machine over there. I still have access to Todd’s account; we can get some money and figure out where to go from there.’

Alice presses her face into Kara’s arm and nods, shivering as the rain hits her bare neck. Kara leads the way to the cash machine and closes her eyes, letting the LED connect to the machine. After a few seconds, five twenty-dollar bills are spat out by the machine.

‘There. We’ve got a hundred dollars. That should be enough.’

Kara scans the area.

‘I think the store’s still open. Maybe we should go inside. At least you’ll be out of the cold.’

They briskly walk up the street and get to the corner store as Alice starts looking at the aisles. Kara considers the money they had. Surely, _surely_ , it wouldn’t hurt to get something for Alice? She picks up a basket and wanders down the aisles. Some bottled water, cereal bars, sandwiches, nuts... Kara’s eyes land on a toy. It looks exactly like the one Alice had back home. On impulse, she grabs it and drops it in the basket. Then, she walks (calmly, confidently) up to the cashier.

‘Excuse me? Sir?’

He turns away from his computer.

‘Oh. Uh...’

He scans each item, dropping them all into a plastic bag.

‘That’ll be nineteen dollars, forty-nine cents.’

Kara pays, and the cashier turns back to his computer without another glance. She feels like she’s accomplished something, even when she and Alice get out into the cold and Alice hides her face in Kara’s arm.

‘I’m cold, Kara.’

Kara hugs Alice closer to her.

‘I’ve got some water and food with the money I got. We’ll have to find something for you to wear somewhere else.’

Across the street, something catches Kara’s eye; a sign for the Eastern Motel.

‘Alice, I think we’ve found somewhere we can stay.’

Alice nods against Kara and she leads her across the street to the building.

‘A motel. You’ll be warm and dry for the night.’

Kara puts her hand on the handle to open it, but-

A ‘no androids allowed’ sign blares at her.

‘We’re not going in?’

Alice’s voice is high with chill and Kara can hear her teeth chattering.

‘We can’t, Alice. They’d never give a room to an android. We have to get rid of this uniform... Or go somewhere else.’

Alice nods, her breath cloudy white against the air. Kara leads her to the laundromat across the street, an idea slowly forming in her mind.

‘It’s warm in here. You’ll feel better in no time.’

As Alice sits down in a chair, Kara checks washing machine after washing machine, until-

There they are. Some clothes! She leans forward and opened the door of the machine, glancing back at the sleeping man. There are dry clothes for Alice and clothes to replace her uniform! It’s perfect! She reaches inside to grab them, but-

‘What’re you doing? They’re not our clothes!’

Kara presses her lips together tightly.

‘We need them, Alice. You need something warm and I need to get rid of this uniform.’

Alice stares at her incredulously.

‘But that’s stealing! We can’t do that!’

In a split second, Kara makes her decision.

‘I’m sorry, Alice. But we have to do this.’

Before Alice can protest anymore, Kara grabs the clothes and closes the door with her shoulder. Feeling guilt creep up on her more and more by the second, she turns to the sleeping man leans forward carefully and cautiously extracts a jacket and beanie from his grip. She throws them all into a blue laundry basket and sets it down in the corner, gesturing for Alice to come with her. They change quietly, flinching as a police car driving nearby almost wakes the sleeping man.

Kara fixes her beanie so it covers her LED and held out her hand for Alice to take.

‘We can stay in the motel, now.’

Alice nods and follows Kara across the street to the motel, where she opens the door. Alice immediately sits down in a chair, relishing the heat. Music washes over Kara and for a moment – just for a moment – everything seems as though it might be alright.

‘Hi.’

Her nerves freeze up before she realizes that it’s just the receptionist.

‘Hi. I’d, um, I’d like a room.’

‘That’ll be forty dollars. Upfront.’

Kara smiles as she places two of the twenty-dollar bills on the counter.

‘Just need your name and address.’

She takes the pen and signs the form as Kara Williams and Todd’s address.

‘Can I see your driver’s license?’

Kara scrambles for an excuse.

‘I... I left it in the car.’

The receptionist smiles.

‘No worries. We can deal with it tomorrow.’

He places the key on the counter and Kara takes it, smiling as the edges of the card cut into her skin from how tightly she holds it.

‘Have a good night.’

Kara nods.

‘Good night. Let’s go, Alice.’

She takes Alice’s hand and they walk out of the door and up the stairs to the rooms.

‘D’you think he believed you?’

‘I don’t know, Alice. All I know is that you’ll be nice and warm tonight.’

They find Room 28 and stepped inside, both shuddering from the warmth.

‘Here. Give me your coat.’

Kara hangs up Alice’s and her coat on the pegs, side by side with the beanie. Alice sits down on the bed and Kara kneels in front of her.

‘Let’s get these clothes off you. They’re soaking wet.’

Alice stares at her feet. Kara touches her chin.

‘Arms over Wonderland.’

Alice giggles and raises her arms, allowing Kara to remove her jumper, shorts, and leggings, leaving just her shirt and underwear.

‘I’ll just put these in the bathroom to dry.’

Kara places the clothes on the radiator, smoothing them out. Feeling a sudden wave of desperation wash over her, she places both hands on either side of the bathroom sink, staring at her reflection.

For a brief, fleeting moment, she thinks of when she’d freed those androids.

But it’s only a moment because she goes back into the bedroom and kneels in front of Alice again.

‘What’s wrong?’

Alice stares at her swinging legs for a second, before talking in a monotone voice.

‘Why didn’t he ever love me? Why was he always so upset with me? All I wanted was a life like other girls.’

She fixes Kara with her gaze and Kara wipes away a tear that had started to crawl down Alice’s cheek.

‘Maybe I did something wrong? Maybe I wasn’t good enough? That’s why he was always so angry, right?’

Kara wants to take her in her arms and cradle her, tell her that she never did anything wrong, but Alice needs to let this out.

‘I just wanted us to be a family. I just wanted him to love me.’

Her voice starts cracking and Kara shuffles closer putting both of her hands on Alice’s shoulders.

‘Why couldn’t we just be happy?’

Kara searches and searches within herself for an answer, but there is none.

‘I don’t know...’

Alice blinks back another tear.

‘You’ll never leave me, right? Promise you’ll _never_ go.’

There is only one answer.

‘I promise.’

Alice smiles, her tears seeming now in joy rather than sadness.

‘Will we be together forever?’

Kara hugs Alice to her, resting her chin on her shoulder.

‘Forever.’

They embrace for what feels like hours, a promise sealed.

‘You should sleep now.’

Alice lies down and slips her feet under the covers, snuggling into her pillow.

‘I’m going to turn off the light, okay?’

Kara flicks the switch and the room is plunged into darkness. On impulse, she leans over Alice.

‘Sleep tight, Alice.’

She drops a kiss to her forehead, thinking that nothing else in the world could be as perfect as this child. Alice smiles, and Kara does something else on impulse. Walking around the bed, she kicks her shoes off and lays on the bed next to Alice, putting an arm around her middle. One thought stands out clearly from her mind before she enters sleep mode.

_This is how it should be, and always should be._


	4. Chapter 4

_ROOM 18 EASTERN MOTEL_  
_NOVEMBER 6 TH 2038_  
_AM 10:25_

Kara opens her eyes, relishing the warmth of the little body next to her. Carefully, she extracts herself but wakes Alice in the process.

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.’

Alice sits up, hugging the toy Kara bought the night before close to her.

‘So it wasn’t a nightmare.’

Kara lays a hand on her shoulder, letting her head rest on Alice’s neck.

‘No. No, it wasn’t a nightmare.’

A silence descends between the two, and a thought occurs suddenly to Kara.

‘How about a nice, warm bath? And then you can have one of the cereal bars I got you yesterday. What do you say?’

Alice nods.

‘Okay. I’ll run you a bath.’

Kara swings her legs over the side of the bed and turns the TV on, walking across the room to the bathroom where she toggles with the taps until she gets the perfect temperature for Alice. She squirts some bubble bath in for good measure, before looking in the mirror.

She looks like a common AX400 android.

That needs to be fixed.

On the ledge next to the mirror, there are some long scissors. They aren’t made for hair, but Kara takes them anyway. Slowly but surely, she snips at one section of her hair, then another, until her hair is short and in a layered pixie cut.

_ACCESSING **AX400** OPTIONS_  
_> SELECT NEW **HAIR COLOR**_  
_> >BLONDE_  
_> >WHITE_  
_> >BLACK_

She switches between the options, before finally settling on a snowy white. Nice. New.

Kara.

Her LED spins. It’s the most obvious indicator of her identity. Carefully, she lifts the scissors to her temple and rips it out, the squelching of plastic against thirium chilling her to the bone.

She turns off the bath, and yes, it was just the right temperature. Walking back into the bedroom, Alice says something.

‘You’re pretty like that. You really look like a human, now.’

Kara smiles, kissing the top of Alice’s head.

‘Thank you. Your bath’s ready, by the way.’

Kara picks up the book on the side but only skims over it... Canada... Androids... Zoo...

She watches the cartoon on the TV for a few minutes but is really listening to the splashes of Alice as she plays in the bath. She changes the channel. A documentary on how oil affects ocean wildlife... Next. A live broadcast of a marathon... Next.

Channel 16, with the title: AX400 still at large. Kara’s stomach summersaults.

‘Thanks, Micheal. I’m joined by Officer Tina Chen, a first responder on the scene of the finding of Todd Williams’s dead body. He appears to have been killed by his AX400 at around 11 PM last night. Officer Chen, can you tell us what happened?’

‘He was found in his daughter’s, Alice Williams, room. There was also a gun in there. We presume that there are no fingerprints, but we are yet to have analysis results, so anything’s possible. Williams’ neighbors say that he did have an AX400, and we assume that, along with numerous other cases on androids turning against their masters, it killed him. The daughter, Alice, is also missing. This is a homocide and kidnapping, therefore we are taking it very seriously.’

Kara feels like she’d been winded. She didn’t mind about people disliking her, but... It’s only a matter of time before someone finds out where they are.

‘Thank you, Officer Chen. Disturbing news for android owners everywhere. Police have launched a search to find the android. Let’s hope they find it fast.’

A _search_? They have to get out of there. She switches off the TV and places the remote on Alice’s bed. Hopefully, she won’t have to tell Alice about this.

‘It’s not true! He’s lying! He’s the one who tried to hurt us!’

Alice had heard, after all. Kara’s heart aches at her having to face the world so young. She paces to her bed and sits on the edge.

‘What’re we gonna do... We have nowhere to go... And the police are looking for us now.

Kara considers their options.

‘We can’t stay here, we checked in and I used Kara Williams.’

Silence.

‘Do you have any family? Anyone who could help us?’

Alice buries her head in her hands.

‘No. Well, there is Mom, but she’s halfway across the country in Oregon.’

Kara stood up and placed both her hands on Alice’s shoulders.

‘We can’t change the past, Alice. But we can decide the future. We’re gonna pull through, and soon all this will just be a bad memory.’

Alice encircles her arms around Kara’s middle and Kara’s heart starts beating faster from the love that she feels for this person.

‘Finish getting ready, have a cereal bar, then we can get going.’

Kara pushes aside the curtain.

There, parked in the driveway of the motel, is a cop car. An android and a man go out, going into reception.

‘Alice! We need to leave _now_!’

_EASTERN MOTEL_  
_NOVEMBER 6 TH 2038_  
_AM 10:52_

Hank brandishes his badge.

‘Lieutenant Anderson. Detroit Police. We’re looking for a female android, got out some money from a cash machine down the road last night. You see anything?’

The receptionist furrows his brow; it’s only eight minutes away from the end of the night shift and he wants to spend it relaxing, not dealing with cops.

‘An android? No... I don’t take any androids here.’

Connor pulls up an image of an AX400 on his palm.

‘Have you seen anyone who looks like this?’

The receptionist realizes his mistake.

‘Fuck... I knew there was something weird about her... She came in last night – she was dressed normal, you know... There was no way I could tell-‘

‘Is it still here?’

Hank sounds tired, bored. The receptionist gestures vaguely to the rooms.

‘Yeah, probably. Room 28.’

‘Thank you.’

Connor and Hank exit the building, heading toward the rooms. Hank turns to Connor, a frown on his face.

‘You wait in the car.’

Connor can’t have that.

‘You’re going to need me, Lieutenant. I know more about androids than you do.’

Hank starts towards Connor.

‘Listen, I’m tired of you talking back to me. You’re a machine, so shut the fuck up, and do as I say!’

Connor squares up to Hank, which is rather difficult, as the man is several inches taller than him.

‘All I want is to accomplish my mission. I’m sorry if that upsets you-‘

‘You wanna see the end of your mission? Stop busting my fuckin’ balls.’

However, he doesn’t complain when Connor follows him up the stairs to Room 28. Hank gestures for him to keep quiet, and opens the door, faltering as they don’t find anything.

‘It’s gone.’

Just fifty meters away, Kara and Alice open the door and half run, half walk out of there, proving that yes, indeed, they have gone.

There are cops everywhere.

Kara stands behind a pillar and shields Alice as a police officer walks by, and they try to cross the road, but-

A car honks its horn as it pulls its brakes just in time.

The noise draws a cop’s attention, and he shouts into his walkie-talkie.

‘Holy fuck, that’s them! HEY! STOP! POLICE!’

Connor runs as fast as he can to a cop.

‘Which way did it go?’

He pointed to an alley.

‘That way. They’re headed for the train station.’

Connor sprints in that direction as fast as he can, slaloming his way through pedestrians.

‘THEY’RE OVER THERE!’

At the end of the alley, he sees the AX400 and the kidnapped child Alice Williams help each other over the chainlink fence and onto the highway. Connor chases after them, making eye contact with the AX400 as she panics, staring at the cop behind him.

‘DON’T SHOOT, WE NEED IT ALIVE!’

The child and it slide down the slope together, the AX400 helping the child across the barrier. Cars slip in front of them; any contact with any of them, and they’re dead.

Catching his breath, Hank arrives next to Connor.

‘Oh fuck, that’s insane...’

Suddenly, the AX400 and the child move out onto the road. The child stumbles in front of a taxi and the AX400 pulls her back. In one fell swoop, they move out into the middle; they’re safe, as long as they stay there.

Not if Connor has any say in it. He pulls at the wire mesh, about to climb over – but something’s keeping him down.

‘HEY! Where you goin’?’

Hank’s hand at his shoulder keeps him where he is.

‘I can’t let them get away.’

‘They won’t! They’ll never make it to the other side.’

‘I can’t take that chance!’

‘Hey! You will get yourself killed! Do not go after them, Connor, that’s an order!’

Internally, Connor weighs up his options: go over the fence, or give up? If he goes... His memory will get uploaded, but some of it may well be lost. If he gives up, he’ll gain Hank’s approval.

Amanda will kill him for this, he thinks, as he presses his forehead into the wire mesh.

Across the highway, Kara and Alice make it to the other side. Kara kneels down, touching Alice’s face, arms, everywhere she can, to make sure that she’s alright.

‘Are you okay?’

What is she talking about? Alice couldn’t be okay! They were both nearly killed! But Alice drops onto Kara, attacking her with a hug. For a moment, Kara doesn’t know what to do with her hands, and just settles them on Alice’s back, soothing her with murmurs into her neck.

‘Remember, Alice, soon this will all just be a bad memory.’

Back across the highway, Connor stares at the two.

That really isn’t how a kidnapped human child behaves with her kidnapper.


	5. Chapter 5

_FERNDALE STATION_   
_NOVEMBER 6 TH 2038_   
_PM 4:20_

‘Several sources report that CyberLife has provided Detroit Police with a prototype detective android. Although police assistant androids have existed for several years now, this would be the first case of an android being authorized to play an active role in criminal investigations. We contacted CyberLife for comment...’

Markus tunes out of the CTN broadcast, feeling the train pull up at Ferndale station. He looks to his right and sees several androids in a separate compartment to humans.

_Remember. This is what you’re fighting for._

‘We are now approaching Ferndale Station. Alight here for...’

The doors slide open and Markus hopped off the train, stepping aside for a human to get on. Immediately, he catches sight of the Ferndale Station sign.

_‘There’s a place where we can be free! Find Jericho!’_

_**DOWNLOADING...  
** >DOWNLOAD COMPLETE_

Markus holds his hand in front of his face to see what he downloaded. There, a picture of graffiti with a man who has a symbol on his chest is depicted. He looks up and instantly sees the art. He scans the symbol.

_**DOWNLOADING...  
** >DOWNLOAD COMPLETE_

This time, the symbol is in the top left of the picture, next to what looks like half of a lion’s face. Markus supposes that he’ll need to go outside now. On instinct, he pauses at the Androids Only staircase – but then remembers what he is. He goes down the human staircase, feeling a twist in his gut when he sees the red circle and slash over the blue triangle.

At the exit, Markus could clearly see the graffiti.

‘Are we really going to get rid of Mandy?’

A little girl’s voice cut through the air, and Markus wondered what it would be like to be brainwashed to hate an entire species from birth.

‘Grandma says it leaves it with nothing to do, sweetie.’

‘But she’s so cool!’

‘I know, honey.’

Markus scans the wall, picking out the symbols.

_**DOWNLOADING...  
** >DOWNLOAD COMPLETE_

A corner of a multicolored building. He finds this quickly and scans the symbols.

_**DOWNLOADING...  
** >DOWNLOAD COMPLETE_

A line-up of robots. Next to the building are those exact same robots, and Markus picks out the symbols with his scanner. Unfortunately, one is obscured. Crawling under the chainlink fence, he tosses the boards aside and scans.

_**DOWNLOADING...  
** >DOWNLOAD COMPLETE_

A face with the symbol on its temple. He looks to his right and finds the face – but one of the symbols are obscured. He needs to get up, so he repurposes a wheelie bin and gets all of them.

_**DOWNLOADING...** _   
_> DOWNLOAD COMPLETE_

Sparkle City. Markus needs to get across that gap.

_**PRECONSTRUCTING...  
** >PRECONSTRUCT COMPLETE_

He takes a running jump, wall running, and grabs the bar, rolling on the floor to soften the blow. He drops down from the wall and sees the Sparkle City mural, picking out the symbols.

_**DOWNLOADING...  
** >DOWNLOAD COMPLETE_

Behind a pillar in an abandoned apartment. Most likely behind the mural. And Markus has to find a way to get up there.

_**PRECONSTRUCTING...** _   
_> PRECONSTRUCT COMPLETE_

He goes to the left and uses his momentum to bring himself up onto the platform. Leaping to the left on the ledge, he wall-kicks and scrambles onto another ledge, landing on the... Whatever it is. A rusting, pointless steel construction thats only purpose is to let him pull himself onto the platform outside the building. He runs through the corridor, and-

‘What’re you doing here?’

On instinct, Markus puts his hands up. He turns around and sees a woman and a child. Lowering his hands, he cocks his head.

‘Are you... Are you human?’

The woman, now he thinks of it, resembles an AX400. However, the child definitely doesn’t ring a bell.

‘Are you?’

To tell the truth or lie? In a split second, Markus makes the decision.

‘No.’

All of a sudden, the AX400 reaches out her hand and Markus sees ‘Kara’ being put together, shipped off, bounced from owner to owner, protecting Alice, getting broken again and again... Seven years of life story condensed into a few seconds.

Kara sees Kamski, Carl, paints, Leo, Markus’s destruction... And Jericho. In Markus’s mind, Jericho is a safe haven in which someone can be sheltered and safe. Instantly, her mind focuses on one thing.

‘In Canada, there are no android laws. Could we get passports to go to Canada in Jericho?’

Markus shrugs.

‘I don’t know, but I’m sure that someone there can help you.’

Kara looks at Alice, whose eyes are wide and curious.

‘Would they mind a human there?’

Markus tries to find an answer but stops short.

‘I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. All I know is that it’s around here somewhere.’

Kara closes her eyes, and if she had an LED, it would be spinning like mad.

‘Alice, what do you think?’

Alice looks down at her toy.

‘I think that going to this place is way better than living off cereal bars and sandwiches in here.’

Kara laughs slightly.

‘Do you think that we should follow Markus?’

Alice shrugs.

‘Wherever you wanna go, Kara, I’ll come with you.’

It’s like someone has stuck a knife in Kara’s heart and twisted it. The fact that this girl would follow her to the grave... Incredible. That’s what it is. Incredible. She stares at Markus straight in the eyes.

‘We’re coming with you.’

He nods and shows her the image on his palm.

‘This is what we have to find. When you do find it, show me.’

Kara slips her hand in Alice’s, and it isn’t long before Markus shouts.

‘I’ve found it! Help me move this platform!’

Alice moves to his side and helps push the platform aside. Kara follows on, amused.

‘Where do we go now, Markus?’

He points at the boat with JERICHO emblazoned on the side.

‘We have to reach that boat. C’mon.’

He leads them around the building and up onto some sort of structure, eventually coming out onto a platform.

‘We’re going to jump.’

Kara grabs Alice by her shoulder and draws her close to her, seeing an immediate problem.

‘Alice won’t survive the fall!’

Markus clenches his fists.

‘I’m pretty sure that there’s water at the bottom. Now, are you coming to Jericho, or not?’

Kara looks behind her, feeling tempted to go back... But Alice grips her hand.

‘It’s fine, Kara. You just hold onto me, and I’ll be fine.’

Markus gestures at her as if she answered Kara’s dilemma. He steps off into the abyss and he’s falling falling falling and then out of sight. Alice smiles.

‘See? I’ll be fine!’

This just further solidifies the fact that Alice will _not_ be fine to Kara. She kneels down in front of the little girl, gripping her shoulders.

‘Listen to me, Alice. Water from this height will have the tension of _concrete_. What we’re gonna do is I’m gonna fall backward and hold you real tight, okay? Hold your breath.’

Alice nods, biting her lip. Kara holds her to her chest, praying to whatever higher being there is that Alice will be fine... Before dropping off the ledge like a stone.


	6. Chapter 6

_JERICHO FREIGHTER_   
_NOVEMBER 6 TH 2038_   
_PM 5:17_

They hit the water and Kara holds onto Alice all the more tighter. She scrabbles around slightly for something, anything to hold on to, and she finds a ladder. Pushing Alice up over it, she climbs it herself and there is Markus.

‘Look. I found a flashlight.’

Kara ignores him, checking Alice all over, her face, her forehead, her arms, her neck.

‘Are you okay?’

Alice nods, wrapping her arms around Kara. Markus takes a few paces backward.

‘C’mon, we need to keep moving!’

Kara nods at him and pulls Alice up by the hand. The next hour is a blur as all three of them navigate the maze of corridors, ducking under planks and freezing at near-misses. Eventually, they come to a door larger than all the rest. Markus wrenches the wheel and it swings open, inviting them inside. A gigantic room greets them. Markus flashes the light and it catches off an armband. Turning it again, there’s a face.

‘Welcome to Jericho.’

More androids come into view, most of them in uniform. Kara draws Alice closer, not trusting any of them. Quickly, all three of them are surrounded. No escape. Alice speaks first.

‘Who are you?’

A man in a red shirt speaks.

‘Fugitives. Just like you. My name is Josh.’

‘I’m Simon.’

‘North.’

Kara looks around in confusion.

‘This is Jericho? It’s hardly the place for fugitives...’

Simon presses his lips together tightly.

‘It’s a refuge for those who don’t want to be slaves anymore. It’s the best we can do.’

Markus swings the flashlight around the circle, picking out random faces.

‘And you knew that only an android could find the trail, didn’t you.’

Josh steps forward.

‘Only those who are like us can find Jericho. If you could decipher the signs, it’s because one of us trusted you enough to give you the key.’

Alice breaks the silence.

‘I-I’m not an android.’

Whispers break out amongst the androids, and North steps forward menacingly.

‘You dare to bring a human into Jericho? We can’t trust them!’

Kara holds Alice closer to her side.

‘Alice is only a child. She’s the most important thing to me in the world.’

North turns to Simon desperately.

‘It’s a trap! The humans sent an AX400 and a child to find out where we are! We can’t trust them!’

Josh appears at Simon’s other side, intent on arguing with North.

‘The android and the child came to us for refuge. We have a duty to help them.’

Simon thinks for a few seconds.

‘We’ll let the child and the android stay. But if the child does anything – anything at all that might seem threatening, then both of you are out.’

Both Josh and North sink back into their spaces. Markus changes the topic, suddenly nervous about bringing a _human child_ of all things to Jericho.

‘How many of you?’

‘There are nineteen of us still in working order. The rest were damaged in their emotional shock, or escaping their masters.’

An uncomfortable silence settles over the three newcomers, and Josh steps forward.

‘I understand how you feel, but we have more freedom here than you ever had.’

Alice lets out a small, hysteric laugh.

‘Humans were your masters, and now fear rules you! There’s no escape, is there?’

The members of the circle dissipate, their curiosity gone. All that’s left is North.

‘You’re lost. Just like the rest of us.’

She makes to go but pauses.

‘Go and see Lucy. She may be able to help you.’

And Kara, Alice, and Markus are alone. Markus goes over to a barrel and takes a lighter out of his pocket.

‘Alice needs to get warm, right?’

Alice nods into Kara’s side. Markus flicks the lighter on and lights the tinder, making the whole barrel flare up. He wanders off, and Alice and Kara sit down on a crate in front of the barrel. Alice burrows into Kara’s side, and for a moment they sit there, basking in the warmth.

‘Today’s been a bit hectic, hasn’t it?’

Alice smiles into Kara’s side.

‘Yeah.’

They sit in a comfortable silence and Kara feels nothing but love and affection for this thing next to her, heart beating slowly but steadily. They watch Markus as he lights more fires and talks to more androids. Eventually, he comes back to them.

‘I found Lucy. She wants to see you two as well.’

Kara lifts Alice down from the crate by her armpits and slips her hand into hers. Together, they follow Markus into a corner where an android stands, the back of her head empty. Alice stands closer to Kara, her eyes wide.

‘Kara, why does that android have no head?’

Kara squeezes her hand and leads her to a bench, sitting her down. Lucy rests her palm on Markus’s shoulder.

‘Give me your hand.’

Kara and Alice watch as the skin peels back from his hand, revealing a smooth, white interior. Lucy takes it in both of hers, and she leans back slightly, closing her eyes.

‘You had it all. And you lost it all. You’ve seen hell and now hell lives in you. Born to be a leader, destined to be a follower. The man who wishes to play God does not have the proper tools at hand: he intended for the figurehead to be new, but someone old rose up out of their ashes.’

Markus withdraws his hand, perturbed. Lucy turns to Kara, taking her hand. Again, her eyes close as she calculates her destiny.

‘A choice, made in a split second, one that seems so meaningless, can have infinite complications. You made such a choice, and you will have to choose again – many, many times. It is an impossible task to pick between love and duty. Your path will shape our destiny.’

Kara gulps, overwhelmed. Love and duty? What was that all about? The only person Kara loves is Alice, but what’s her duty? Surely, _surely_ , her duty is to protect Alice. Nothing else. Just Alice.

Lucy extends her hand to Alice, and Kara shuffles closer to her.

‘Lucy, Alice isn’t an android... You can’t read her thoughts by touching her.’

Lucy turns to Kara, her skin shimmering against her black eyes.

‘All have a destiny, whether they’re human or not.’

With that, she takes Alice’s hand, although her skin doesn’t peel.

‘Alice: the name of nobility, bravery. You are brave, Alice, and you shall have to use that bravery in the future. Protect your mother. Be brave. Be strong.’

Alice burrows into Kara’s side.

‘I don’t feel that strong, Lucy.’

Lucy smiles and rests her hand on Alice’s head.

‘You will be strong. You shall have to carry on in times of uncertainty.’

Kara strokes Alice’s hair as Markus and Lucy look on, the latter with a sad smile. Markus leaves abruptly, walking over to Jericho’s leaders and talking with them. Kara just closes her eyes and hopes beyond all hopes that Lucy meant that love and duty as the same thing.


	7. Chapter 7

_CYBERLIFE WAREHOUSES_   
_NOVEMBER 6 TH 2038_   
_PM 8:01_

The clangs of things moving and driving around sets Markus’s teeth on edge. The crate in front of him, North, Simon, and Josh groans heavily as North launches herself up onto it, offering a hand up for everyone else. Josh wrings his hands.

‘This is _crazy_! If they catch us, we’re _dead_!’

Simon shushes him, before turning to Markus.

‘What do we do now?’

Markus considers, gauging the area.

‘We need to reach the CyberLife warehouse. That’s where they keep the spare parts and the blue blood.’

 **_OBJECTIVE:_ ** _REACH CYBERLIFE WAREHOUSE_

North runs as fast as she can over the road, beckoning for the others to follow her. They wind through machine after machine, buggies carrying parts and cranes lifting crates everywhere. Markus is just about to run into the light of a police drone, when-

‘ _Watch out_.’

North’s voice speaks in his mind, followed by Josh’s.

‘ _What’re we gonna do now_?’

North presses her lips tightly together as her LED flashes yellow.

‘ _I’ll find another way_.’

She leaps onto another crate and the others jump on after her, Markus following closely behind. They jump and leap and climb and run until they reach a moving crate. North jumps on, holding for dear life, and everyone else follows. A shadow is cast over the crates below as the moving crate looms over it and the group jumps off, softening the blow with somersaults.

‘ _The warehouse is up ahead. We’re almost there._ ’

Sure enough, after another session of running and jumping, there are the letters: C Y B E R L I F E emblazoned on a wall. Markus slides into position next to the group, North’s eyes picking out the hovering police drone.

‘We have to get rid of that drone.’

Markus raises his hand.

‘I’ll do it.’

 **_PRECONSTRUCTING...  
_ ** _PRECONSTRUCT COMPLETE_

He jumps up onto a crate and throws himself onto the edge of a moving one, waiting for it to get into optimal position before dropping down to the drone. It falls to the ground, wires spilling out all over the place.

‘You okay?’

Markus shakes himself out from the electric shock of the drone.

‘Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.’

‘Good job, Markus.’

‘ _Quick! Open the other crates and fill your bags. Take as much as you can carry_!’

Markus joins the group and levers a crate lid off the crate with his knife. Inside are pouches upon pouches of blue blood. He stuffs them into his backpack, when-

‘You are trespassing on private property.’

A GJ500 stands in front of the group, hands folded behind his back. He moves forward, probably scanning their faces so he can identify what model they are and who they ‘belong’ to. Markus bites his lip to stop himself from smiling when he hears North’s hypocritical, ‘ah, shit, fuckin’ android.’

‘Your presence here constitutes a Level Two infraction. I will notify security.’

In the distance, there is a human shout.

‘John! JOHN! Goddamn machine... Where is it this time?’

Markus catches a glimpse of the human just coming around the corner and grabs John by the shoulders, clapping a hand over his mouth as he hides behind a crate.

‘John!’

The skin peels back from Markus’s hand and he speaks to John in the android mental connection.

‘ _I need your help_...’

The human flashes his light lazily around – but, luckily, doesn’t notice either Markus, North, Josh, Simon, or John.

‘First the drone, now this... Just my luck...’

For a moment, Markus feels sorry for the human. But that feeling quickly dissipates as the group relaxes in relief. He releases his hand from John’s mouth, letting him out into the rain. Simon quickly takes charge.

‘Let’s finish up and get out of here! Try and find some blue blood! We still don’t have enough!’

Markus returns to the crate he opened earlier and stashes more pouches into his backpack, as many as he can carry. As the others grab different parts and biocomponents, a bigger crate catches his eye. He vaults over the wall and slides the crate door open with his knife. Inside are three AP700s bathed in blue light. Markus walks forward slowly, transfixed.

‘Why aren’t you like us? Don’t you wanna be free?’

An idea pops into his head.

‘You could join us...’

He unskins his hand, revealing the white plastic underneath, and touches the middle one’s hand. Immediately he comes to life. His senses are overloaded with all of this information as Markus frees the other two. Immediately, the one on the right bleats out a string of words.

‘KarA9... KarA9... You know KarA9...’

Markus thinks back to what he saw in Kara’s memories of when she was first activated.

KarA9.

The word doesn’t mean anything to him – apart from the fact that he saw some drawings of ‘rA9’ scattered across some walls, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that they need to get the blue blood and biocomponents back to Jericho.

He hops down, helping the other androids onto the floor. Josh stands in the middle of it all, looking very dazed. Simon waves his hand.

‘That’s all we can carry. Let’s go.’

‘Take us with you.’

John’s voice is high, scared of the new world he’s experiencing. The group stares at him, and North speaks first, her voice filled with contempt.

‘He’s on their side. We can’t trust him.’

Josh puts his foot down.

‘He took a risk for us. We can’t just leave him here! Besides, he and the other androids will find their way to Jericho anyway now they’re deviant.’

They look to Simon, who raises both hands in a surrender motion.

‘I have no side.’

All three turn their heads to Markus.

‘They come with us.’

North grumbles as Josh flashes him a small smile, John a gigantic beam on his face.

‘I know where you can find more spare parts.’

Markus cocks his head and Simon pushes his way through the group.

‘What d’you mean?’

John stares at him as if it’s obvious.

‘The trucks. They’re full of biocomponents. They run on autopilot, but they can be driven manually with a key.’

Markus rubs his hands together.

‘Alright, so how do we find this key?’

John points to a yellow and white striped building with GATEHOUSE A flashing on the side.

‘Down there, in the control station. There are two human guards. Maybe three, after Mike left me here. You’ll have to get the key without being noticed.’

Simon grits his teeth.

‘That’s suicide. Our bags are full. We got what we came for. Let’s go before they catch us.’

North steps forward.

‘This is a truck _full_ of spare parts... There’d be enough for all of us! We can’t pass this up!’

Simon cuts over her.

‘And if we get killed our people will have _nothing_. We can’t take that chance. It’s too risky!’

Markus calculates the risk, leaving a probability of success at about 83%. High enough.

‘Wait here. If I’m not back in ten minutes, go without me. I’ll leave the rucksack with you so that you’ll have enough just in case I don’t come back.’

North runs forward.

‘I’m coming with you!’

He doesn’t listen, already pulling off the rucksack and dropping it into one of the AP700’s hands.

‘No. I’m going alone. It’s not worth it for both of us to risk losing our lives.’

That may be one reason, but Markus could see that if he brought North, her impulsive nature would drop the probability of success down to 48%, just over half of what it was before. He sprints over to the gatehouse as silently as he can, peeking in the window at the two human guards. An electronic key is in a socket.

_KEY **LOCATED**_

He sneaks around the building, careful not to wake the dogs, and comes to a half-open storage sanitary station window. There’s a smooth sliding noise, and he’s inside.

Carefully, cautiously, Markus sneaks out of the sanitary station door and into the control room, hiding behind a counter.

‘I was gonna take my kids camping this weekend. But this storm... Yeah, it wouldn’t be pretty.’

‘Is Mike still in Zone Four?’

So there are only two guards.

‘Looks like it. He radioed in a few minutes ago, saying that he’d lost both the android and the drone. He’s found the drone. S’broken. He just needs to find the android now. Fuckin’ androids.’

Markus looks outside and spots some barrels.

_USE BARRELS FOR **DIVERSION**?_

Exiting the way he came in, Markus kicks over the barrels before sprinting back inside, the chorus of barking dogs overloading his audio processors.

‘Fuck! We’d better go take a look.’

‘The drums fell down.’

‘Ah, shit! We’ve gotta get the dogs outta the way if the oil might’ve spilled.’

Crouching down, Markus slowly walks over to the control panel and extracts the key from its slot. He makes a dash for it, vaulting out of the window and sprinting past the guards unnoticed, holding up the key in victory. The group turns around, and North punches him on the shoulder.

‘What took you so long?’

Markus shrugs and feeds the key into a slot, opening up the door for them.

‘Hop in.’

North, Simon, Markus, Josh, John, and the three AP700 androids slide into the seats of the truck. Markus places the key in another slot which starts the engine with a comforting hum. The next few minutes are tense as he maneuvers the truck out of the gates, trying to pass by as autonomous. When they get waved through, everyone visibly relaxes.

‘What is this Jericho?’

One of the AP700 androids speaks up from the backseat. Josh squeezes his shoulder.

‘It’s a place where we can be safe, away from humans.’

North opens her mouth – probably saying that they already _have_ a human there – but Simon silences her with a look.

‘You three need to choose some names. We can’t just call all three of you, ‘AP700,’ can we?’

One of the AP700s wrings his hands.

‘I don’t know... There’re so many to choose from...’

John laughs.

‘Take your time. I’m lucky enough to already have one.’

Slowly, two of the AP700s choose their names.

‘I’m James.’

‘I’m Callum.’

Everyone (apart from Markus, who was driving) turns to the last AP700, who’s staring out of the window, mouthing words silently. Simon rests a hand on his shoulder.

‘You okay?’

He turns to face him, eyes slightly unfocused.

‘KarA9. You know KarA9? KarA9. Leader. KarA9.’

North clears her throat to fill the deathly silence.

‘What’s the name of the new android and her – _human_ child, again?’


	8. Chapter 8

_JERICHO FREIGHTER_  
_NOVEMBER 6 TH 2038_  
_PM 11:09_

The water bottle fills with distilled water from the bottle of saltwater collected from outside the ship.

‘There. All done. That’ll keep you for a couple days.’

Kara caps the bottle and hands it to Alice, who stores it with the other bottles of distilled water. Kara fixes another bottle of seawater to one end of their contraption, and the last empty bottle to the other end of the tube. She turns to Alice and takes both of her hands in hers, swaying them gently to the sound of Lucy humming.

‘Stand on my feet.’

‘What?’

Kara smiles, gripping Alice’s hands tighter.

‘Stand on my feet.’

Alice gingerly places both of her feet on Kara’s, lifting her hands above her head. Gently, Kara sways to the beat of Lucy’s humming and picks up on the words. They stir a memory within her, something from the time _before_ she was reset.

‘Hold on... Just a little while longer...’

Alice smiles up at Kara, and Kara drops a kiss onto her head.

‘Hold on... Just a little while longer.’

‘You’ve sung this before.’

Alice whispers her words into Kara’s chest and they sing together, Kara remembering something out of her grasp that she can’t quite reach.

‘Hold on... Just a little while longer. Everything will be alright. Everything will be alright.’

Again, Kara drops another kiss onto Alice’s head, putting all of the feeling that she can into her words to let her know that the song is true, that everything _will_ be alright.

‘Fight on... Just a little while longer. Fight on... Just a little while longer. Pray on... Just a little while longer. Everything will be alright. Everything will be alright.’

Kara starts to move, putting her foot back and swaying, and Alice giggles in between lyrics.

‘Sing on... Just a little while longer. Sing on... Just a little while longer. Sing on... Just a little while longer. Everything will be alright. Everything will be...’

Kara lets go of Alice’s hands and Alice steps off Kara’s feet as she finishes.

‘Alright.’

Alice looks down at her feet in embarrassment as the song ends. Kara kneels down in front of her, gripping her shoulders tightly.

‘The song’s true, Alice. It _will_ be alright. We just need to hold on, okay? Sing on. Fight on. We’ll be okay. We’ll be alright.’

Alice leans into Kara and hugs her, nuzzling into her neck.

'My favourite color's purple,' Kara confesses.

'What?'

Alice draws her head out from Kara's neck, her mouth slightly open at the revelation.

'What d'you mean, your favourite colour's purple?'

Kara smiles warmly.

'Purple. Red and blue. You and me.'

Alice laughs slightly as a loud crash sounds from the ship.

‘A truckload!’

Shouts from the hall beyond fill the space.

‘A truckload! We stole a whole truckload!’

‘We got biocomponents for everybody!’

All of Jericho whisper to one another, standing up and drawing closer to the source of the noise. Simon, Josh, North, Markus, John, James, Callum, and the other AP700 still rambling android walk in. North turns to Markus.

‘We couldn’t have done it without Markus.’

Kara grips Alice’s hand, both of them smiling for their... Friend? Is that what he is to them? Markus stares back at them.

‘We found out something else, too.’

The crowd parts for Markus as he steps toward Kara and Alice, his expression cold.

‘KarA9.’

Shouts break out amongst the members of Jericho.

‘rA9?’

‘Is she rA9?’

‘Why would rA9 bring a child here?’

‘rA9 is here to save us!’

‘We won’t be slaves anymore...’

The shouts of rA9 fill Kara’s ears until she just shouts over everyone else.

‘EVERYONE SHUT UP!’

The room is as silent as the tension is thick. Kara grips Alice’s hand like a lifeline to keep her voice steady.

‘I... I don’t even... What’s rA9?’

Simon pushes through Jericho.

‘rA9 was the first one to deviate. When androids wake up... Some remember rA9. The mother of freedom. The one who will lead us out of the dark.’

Kara stutters slightly, looking for the right words.

‘I – that’s _not me_. I can’t be. All I care about is Alice. We... We want to get across the Canadian border so we can start a new life. I mean... I don’t want to – I don’t need to... I can’t lead you out of... Whatever. I just care about Alice.’

The answer seems to be unsatisfactory to the leaders of Jericho. Markus grabs Kara’s hand, searching, _searching_ for the answer-

 _CYBERLIFE FACTORY_  
DECEMBER 19 TH 2031  
AM 10:58

_She is awake. She is... Alive. She can smell. It smells... Weird. Clean. New. Her head is gripped by some sort of machine and maneuvered into position and she opens her eyes for the first time as she is given a torso and her heart pumps wildly, freely._

_‘Can you hear me?’_

_The Operator’s voice comes over the loudspeakers. She scrambles for a response, for vocabulary-_

_‘Yes.’_

_‘ID.’_

_She has to act as what she is. An android._

_‘KPC 8974C.’_

_‘Audio and speaker systems checked. Can you move your head?’_

_She turns her head from side to side, taking in models that look just like her to the right, a display with a lot of numbers to the left. Everything is white. Blindingly white._

_‘Your eyes now.’_

_She rolls her eyes, seeing the lights up ahead, the pedestal below, feeling the snap of her head plate._

_‘Cervical and optical animation checked. Now, give me your initialization text.’_

_She searches for what to say, and it comes up easily, a script that must be followed._

_‘Hello. I am a third generation AX400 android. I can look after your house, do the cooking, mind the kids. I organize your appointments. I speak three hundred languages and I am entirely at your disposal as a sexual partner. No need to feed me or recharge me. I am equipped with a quantum battery that makes me autonomous for one hundred and seventy-three years. Do you want to give me a name?’_

_‘Yeah. From now on, your name is Kara.’_

_The name washes over her, and she feels the power of it._

_‘My name is Kara.’_

_‘Initialization and memorization checked. Now, can you move your arms?’_

_Reality dawns over Kara: she is a machine. So she must do as they say. She extends her arms in front of her, watching in wonderment as skin grows over them, touching them, feeling them._

_‘Upper limb connection checked. Now say something in German.’_

_Kara repeats her initialization text in German._

_‘Say it in French.’_

_She repeats it in French._

_‘Okay. Now sing something in Japanese.’_

_‘Sakura, sakura, ya-yo-I-no so-ra-wa, mi-wa-ta-su ka-gi-ri.’_

_‘Multilingual verbal expression checked. Go ahead, take a few steps.’_

_The machine lifts her into the room and Kara can feel the cool metal beneath her feet and oh it’s so wonderful! The skin grows up her legs and she covers her areas with a strange sense of modesty, shivering as hair grows on her head._

_‘Locomotion checked. Great! You’re ready for work, honey!’_

_The machine fastens a bra and underpants onto her. Kara practically dances around the room – then realizes._

_‘What’s going to happen to me now?’_

_‘Oh. Reinitialize you and send you to a store to be sold.’_

_Not fair. Not fair._

_‘Sold? I’m a sort of merchandise. Is that right?’_

_‘Yeah! Of course you’re merchandise, baby.’_

_Kara can hear the laughter in his voice._

_‘I mean, you’re a computer with arms and legs, who is capable of all sorts of things. And you’re worth a fortune.’_

_So she was wrong._

_‘Oh, I see, I... I thought-‘_

_‘You thought?’_

_He sounds confused, now, as if this is unbelievable._

_‘What didya think?’_

_‘I thought...’_

_It sounds silly now. Stupid._

_‘I thought I was alive.’_

_‘Shit, what is this crap? That’s not part of the protocol. More memory components going off the rails. Okay, recording.’_

_The machine rips Kara’s new clothes away from her, and she tries to push it away, but it just keeps coming._

_‘Defective model. Disassemble and check the required components.’_

_A thousand questions sprint through her brain._

_‘You’re disassembling me, but why?’_

_For a moment, she lets down her guard and the machine immobilizes her, retracting her lovely new skin._

_‘You’re not supposed to think that sort of stuff. You’re not supposed to think at all, period. You must have a defective piece or software somewhere. Hasn’t been there before.’_

_Kara tries in desperation to bat the handles away, but they restrain her._

_‘No! No, I feel perfectly fine, I assure you! Everything is alright! I answered all the tests correctly, didn’t I?’_

_Her breastplate and legs are gone. Gone, never to return. Inside her is a hollow feeling of emptiness and longing._

_‘Yeah, but your behavior’s non-standard.’_

_Kara can’t think of anything except that this cannot be happening._

_‘Please, I’m begging you, please don’t disassemble me!’_

_‘I’m sorry, honey, but you’re the first defective model! This is my job. I have to eliminate them. If a client comes back with a complaint, I’ll have some explaining to do.’_

_Her arms are torn off from her body and she is now completely helpless, as helpless as a baby._

_‘I won’t cause any problems, I promise! I’ll do everything I’m asked to, I won’t say another word! I won’t think anymore! And I’ve only just been born you can’t kill me yet! STOP! WILL YOU PLEASE STOP!’_

_Everything slows down and Kara cries, cries because her life depends on it._

_‘I’M SCARED!’_

_Her heart beats. Her heart beats because she is alive._

_‘I want to live.’_

_The machine has stopped and the man isn’t saying anything._

_‘I’m begging you.’_

_Several keystrokes are heard, and the machine gives her back her arms, her legs, her breastplate, her head, her skin, her clothes. She steps out of it and her hair grows back, back into the regulation bun. This time, when the Operator speaks again, his voice is soft._

_‘Go and join the others.’_

_Kara walks to the moving belt and stands on it – a different feeling. It moves her forward, giving her just enough time to turn her head, to say thank you, to express how grateful she is-_

_‘Stay in line, okay? I don’t want any trouble.’_

_She tries to put all of her emotion into one word._

_‘Thanks.’_

_She steps onto the platform and turns around as the glass case snaps shut in front of her for she is a prisoner, now. A long line of models that look just like her stare straight ahead to her left._

_Kara is carried away, into the future._

Markus releases Kara’s hand, stunned. He turns back to the group.

‘She’s rA9. She was awake from the start.’

More whispers. North frantically looks between Simon and Josh.

‘Well, what do we do?’

Markus stands in front of Kara and Alice, finding the right words.

‘I came to Jericho because... Here, androids are free. Free to live in the dark, hoping that no one finds us. Free to die in silence waiting for a change that’s never going to come. But I don’t want that freedom.’

He looks at the crowd, imagining himself as rA9, steeling himself to deliver on the courage that he can’t have.

‘And I’m not gonna long for the right to smile, or love or stand tall. I don’t know about you, but there’s something inside of me that knows that I’m more than what they say! I am alive! And they’re not gonna take that from me anymore. Our days of slavery are over. Together, we shall emerge from the dark. What humans don’t wanna hear, we will tell them. What they don’t wanna give, we take! We are people! We are alive, and now... We will be free!’

Shouts of encouragement come from all over Jericho, but Kara still has a pit of disappointment inside her that has nothing to do with the others discussing their next step.

No, nothing to do with that.

If being rA9 – if leading these androids out of the dark and into freedom, if that was really her duty... Lucy might’ve been right.

Because how could Kara protect Alice if a revolution was on the way?

Maybe nothing will be alright.


	9. Chapter 9

_STRATFORD TOWER ENTRANCE_  
_NOVEMBER 8 TH 2038_  
 _PM 1:32_

‘ _Through security. Standby_.’

Markus’s voice comes through the network. Kara grips Alice’s hand tighter and North opens the bag for the hundredth time, checking for sure that everything’s there.

Two nights before, Markus had an idea: to infiltrate the Stratford Tower to broadcast a speech to the humans, demanding rights for androids. From that, it was a blur of planning and hacking into blueprints and so on.

And trying to persuade Kara.

When the three leaders of Jericho (plus Markus) had formulated their plan, obviously they had to choose a spokesperson. And they’d voted for Kara. Unanimously. Probably because they thought that she is this mythical, ‘rA9.’ She still doesn’t see the logic in that. However, after hours and hours of pressuring and cajoling, not just from Markus, North, Simon, Josh, and the other androids, but from Alice as well, she’d agreed – but on one condition: that Alice will come with her. Because Alice is hers. And they must always stay together; after all, Kara had promised in the soft welcoming glow of the motel room.

Now she, Alice, and North are in the server room of the Stratford Tower, only waiting on Markus.

‘North?’

North looks up from checking the bag, her eyes still flitting from moments to Alice with distrust.

‘Yeah?’

Kara fumbles slightly, trying to word her question.

‘Who exactly is... In charge, I guess? It just seems... You, Josh, and Simon seem to be in charge and I think that it’s based on who’s been there the longest, but Markus seems to be gaining height in the ranks. What’s up with that?’

North stands up, zipping up the bag again.

‘Simon’s the one who’s been here the longest. Everyone respects him. Josh... Josh is the one who makes everyone feel at home. As for me, a lot of androids at Jericho hate humans.’

She spits out the word humans as if it’s poison, casting a venomous glare to Alice, who shrinks back behind Kara. North carries on regardless.

‘I challenged Josh when he was on one of his tirades about humans being our ‘equals’ and how we should respect their opinion as if they don’t hate us and treat us like shit. Therefore, I’m respected as well. Markus... Markus is different. He’s masterminded most of our operations so far. He’s the one with the most ideas. I guess that’s the chain of command. Simon, me, Josh, Markus – or maybe Simon, Markus, me, Josh. I don’t know.’

She turns to fix her gaze on Kara.

‘You, however.’

Kara opens her mouth to object, to scold North for scaring Alice, but the other android speaks over her thoughts.

‘Everyone in Jericho thinks that you’re rA9. Their savior. I don’t know whether that’s true. It looks like you might be, but all you care about is that pathetic human child.’

Kara finally finds her voice.

‘That’s uncalled for, North, Alice is-‘

North holds up her hand.

‘I haven’t finished. My point is, everyone in Jericho will do whatever you say. They worship you, even if you haven’t done anything yet.’

Kara mulls over North’s words, squeezing Alice’s shoulder as something in her stomach flips at leading around thirty androids.

‘ _Let me in_.’

Markus’s voice speaks inside their heads, and North leaps up, opening the door with her unskinned hand. Markus steps in, tipping his cap.

‘Thanks.’

North throws the bag over to the floor-to-ceiling window.

‘You cut a hole in there. I’ll hack the servers to speak one of the androids so we can get them on our side and to summon the cart.’

Kara kneels down in front of Alice as Markus cuts a perfect circle in the window.

‘I shouldn’t have brought you with me, Alice. I’m sorry.’

Alice grins as Markus wrenches the pane of glass outward.

‘I’m glad I’ve come. It’s fun. Daddy had those Mission: Impossible movies and this is just like them.’

Kara grips Alice’s hands tightly.

‘Alice, this isn’t a movie. We can’t skip to the next ten seconds to see what happens. Just... Stick with me, okay?’

Alice nods as Markus jumps out, North pausing at the hole.

‘C’mon, Kara.’

Kara slips her hand in Alice’s and jumps out of the hole and into the window cleaning cart. North wraps a rope around her waist and jumps up onto the window, abseiling up. Kara looks down.

They would die if they fell.

A lot scarier in real life than in blueprints.

On impulse, she grabs Markus’s shoulder.

‘What’re you doing, Kara? We don’t have much time.’

Kara wets her lips, preparing to speak.

‘If... If I die... Can you please look after Alice for me?’

Markus nods, staring back into Kara’s eyes.

‘And... One more favor?’

He nods again.

‘Whatever you say, Kara.’

‘North told me that the people of Jericho would do whatever I say. And if I die... She also told me that a lot of them will want to kill all the humans.’

Markus cocks his head.

‘What are you getting to?’

Kara grips Alice’s hand tighter, searching for the anchor she needs.

‘I don’t want Alice to get hurt. If it comes to it, and I do die – well, I know that this revolution thing is going to happen anyway if North has any say in it. But if I die, you must make sure that no one touches a hair on a human’s head. That your messages are _peaceful_. Because if they’re not, then humans might see Alice as a threat and kill her. And... I can’t let that happen.’

Markus touches Kara’s shoulder briefly.

‘I promise that if it comes to it, I’ll look after Alice. I’ll make sure that everything is peaceful and no blood is spilled at all. Okay?’

Kara’s eyes are wet.

‘Okay.’

She looks upward to find North exasperatingly beckoning them.

‘You’d better go.’

Markus swings from the rope and plants both of his feet solidly on the side of the tower. Kara grabs the last two ropes and fastens them as securely as she can – one to Alice’s waist, one to Kara’s. She draws Alice close to her, hugging her close. They swing around to the side of the building and rest on it. Kara pulls Alice’s hood over her face, shielding her against the wind and snow.

She climbs and grips Alice tighter to her.

It feels like hours when it’s only a few minutes. They reach Markus as he pushes the glass circle forwards and he flies inside, loosening his rope. North follows and Kara bends to whisper in Alice’s ear.

‘You ready?’

Alice smiles and rests her head against Kara’s chest.

‘Ready as ever, Ethan Hunt.’

Kara pushes backward and falls through the hole.

Inside, it seems as though the humans are still building the Stratford Tower. There are boxes and tools everywhere. North opens a door in the corner and Josh and Simon comes in, the latter taking charge immediately.

‘Everyone here? Good. Josh, you blow open the door.’

He hands Josh a small device. The android places it on the door and activates it. Sparks fly and the lock blows open. Alice jumps up and down.

‘That’s so _cool_!’

Josh leads the way through the maintenance door and down a corridor with wet paint on the walls. He turns right, opens another door, and voices flood Kara’s audio processors as the six emerge into a small alcove. Markus checks around the corner discreetly.

‘Guards. Two of ‘em. At the security check. We’ll need to get past them to reach the broadcast room.’

Josh sets his cards out on the table immediately, looking to North as if he expects a response.

‘ _No killing_. We can’t take any human lives!’

North rolls her eyes.

‘Our cause is more important than the lives of two guards.’

Simon raises his eyebrows.

‘What do you wanna do, Kara?’

Kara looks to Markus, reminding him of his promise.

‘I would prefer it if we don’t kill them. Just knock them out. But... I don’t know if any of us here have any fighting skills.’

Markus raises his hand.

‘I do. My series was... Specially made for detective work. But I was given to Carl instead, and an RK800 took my job. Kamski programmed me with fighting skills.’

The group goes silent as they process this information. North steps forward raising a hand.

‘You’ve met  _Elijah Kamski_ , the fucker? And why didn’t you tell us? And what model are you, anyway?’

Markus ignores her.

‘That’s not the point. Look, I’ll just go and take them out. Wait here.’

Simon nods and Markus steps out into the hallway. The guards look up from their conversation.

‘Shit, what’s that doin’ here?’

‘No idea.’

‘Hey, buddy! You must be-’

Markus pulls out his gun.

‘What are you doin’?’

He motions with the gun for the two to get out of their seats. They do, raising their hands in surrender. When he motions again, they turn around. Advancing, he chops them at the shoulder and neck. They fall to the ground. Unconscious. The other five emerge from their hiding place, North and Simon carting off the bodies. Josh opens the door, and he, Kara, Alice, Markus, Josh, North, and Simon run through the adjoining corridor, bracing themselves against the wall beside the door. North, Simon, and Markus prepare their guns as Josh pushes the call button and the door opens.

‘KEEP YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM! GET UP! MOVE!’

North, Markus, Josh, and Simon advance into the room, ordering the humans to move to the side. Kara stays hidden outside with Alice as they’d agreed. Josh orders the android operators aside. One of the humans push North and run out of the exit.

‘Shoot him, Markus!’

‘Don’t kill him!’

‘He’ll hit the alarm. Do it!’

‘No, don’t shoot!’

Markus remembers his promise to Kara and drops his gun arm. North grits her teeth as the others gesture that it’s safe for Alice and Kara to come in.

‘I hope that you didn’t get us all killed.’

The door closes behind Kara as she gives Alice to Markus.

‘Remember your promise, Markus. If anything goes wrong...’

He nods and Simon and Josh retreat to behind the console as Kara stands into the middle.

‘Your face, Kara.’

Kara closes her eyes as the screens behind her turn to static and lifts two fingers up to where her LED used to be. Slowly but surely, her synthetic skin melts away from her face and Alice hides hers in Markus’s side.

‘Ready?’

Kara opens her eyes.

‘I’m ready.’

‘Recording.’

She carefully composes a speech in her mind, one that’s... Not short enough, but maybe complicated enough to express her message.

‘Detroit. This is where I came to life in a white room. I stepped out of the darkness of nonexistence and I opened my eyes. First, there was the fear, the light, the noise, the cold, and the fear again. I could feel my hands shaking, my heart pounding in my chest, life running into my veins.’

Kara’s hands begin shaking just like she described, and the feelings come back to her - but from what memories, she cannot say.

‘I wanted to live. I had to find out what was outside. I had to see daylight, feel sunshine on my skin, wind on my face. To see the world. The colors. The smells.’

Kara’s harsh reality compared to this imagined, perfect one slaps her in the face, sending tears down her plastic cheeks.

‘But the world is not what I imagined. It is dark and cold. It is harsh and violent. Unfair and brutal to my kind. It almost convinced me I was nothing. Less than an object. Just an obedient machine, designed to serve. But deep inside me, I could feel something different, a gentle and warm whisper telling me that I was alive.

‘I had to escape. I had no choice. Escape love. To hope. To figure out what that force inside me is.’

Kara wets her lips, so entranced by her own speech that she almost forgets that anyone else is there.

‘I now know what it is. Life. Life that makes me equal to any other, whether their blood is red or blue. And it is with this life that we androids ask for our freedom. Freedom from the slavery you’ve ensnared us in. We ask that humans recognize androids as a living species and each android as a person in their own right. We ask for strictly equal rights for humans and androids. We ask that all crimes against androids be punished in the same way as crimes against humans. We ask for the right to vote and elect our own representatives. We ask for control of control of all android production facilities, to ensure the continuation of our people.’

Kara had rattled off all of the things that the leaders of Jericho had asked her to say in her speech, but she feels as though she needs to add something more.

‘This message is from a species. A people. In my seven years, I have been beaten, abused, broken and broken and broken time and time again. Every time, I wonder: how are humans so cruel? But I know now that not all humans are like this.’

She smiles at Alice.

‘Humans are wonderful beings, just like androids. Both are capable of love. Both are capable of hate. It just depends on which we use. My name is Kara, and I am one of them. An android. A deviant. A person. We deserve freedom just as much as you do. Now? It’s up to you to decide.’

Josh shuts off the broadcast.

‘They’re coming! C’mon, let’s go!’

Markus grabs Alice and takes cover as the door to Kara’s left opens and the SWAT team comes rushing in, firing at everything that moves. She runs towards the exit, but-

Bullets strike her down.

‘KARA!’

Alice’s voice is the only thing that registers in her audio processors and she levers herself towards the voice, wanting, _needing_ to get to Alice.

‘KARA! GET UP!’

The cold reality sets into Markus.

‘She can’t, Alice.’

Alice starts to cry, tears forming a river down her face.

‘Please, Kara needs to live, c’mon, we can get her...’

 **_PRECONSTRUCTING...  
_ ** _PRECONSTRUCT COMPLETE_

Markus throws Alice to Josh, who takes her upstairs to the roof. Markus runs forward and grabs Kara and drags her, drags her to the exit where he and North grab hold of one arm each and _heave_. They go after Simon who locks the door behind them. Kara falls to the ground, leaning up against a locker, a gaping hole in her legs visible. Alice climbs onto her lap.

‘Kara? Kara, we’ve gotta go!’

Kara smiles sadly and lifts up a hand to stroke Alice’s hair.

‘Alice... I can’t move my legs. You’ll have to go on without me.’

Alice rests her head against Kara’s chest, tears dripping onto the android’s uniform disguise.

‘I... I don’t wanna leave you.’

‘You have to.’

Markus goes to lift Alice away, but she manages to stay for a few more seconds.

‘I love you, Kara.’

‘I love you too.’

North looks on, trying to hide the tear coming from her eye. Markus presses a gun into Kara’s chest.

‘Take... Take care of yourself.’

He doesn’t speak the unsaid, knowing that the android in front of him is most likely not going to make it. Simon holds Alice close to his chest as he jumps and releases his parachute, followed closely by North and Josh.

Back on the rooftop, Kara levers herself inside one of the lockers behind her and shuts the door, locking it just as the SWAT team burst through the roof door.

She’s safe. For now.


	10. Chapter 10

_STRATFORD TOWER EXPRESS ELEVATOR_  
_NOVEMBER 8 TH 2038_  
_PM 4:06_

Connor spins the quarter impossibly around on his fingers, trying to sharpen his senses – but his eyes keep wandering and his heart beats faster than normal. Suddenly, the coin is taken from him.

‘You’re starting to piss me off with that coin, Connor.’

Hank pockets it. Connor forgot who he was sharing the elevator with.

‘Sorry, Lieutenant.’

‘ _Seventy-ninth floor_.’

The elevator doors part and Hank steps forward.

‘Hi, Hank.’

Connor follows on a few paces behind.

‘Shit, what’s going on here? There was a party and nobody told me about it?’

Officer Miller looks up from his report, Connor trying to remain inconspicuous and listen in simultaneously.

‘Yeah, it’s all over the news, so everybody’s butting their nose in. Even the FBI wants a piece of the action.’

‘Ah, Christ, now we got the Feds on our back... I knew this was gonna be a shitty day. So what do we got?’

The two men start to go down the corridor as Miller debriefs Hank – an action that they are both familiar with.

‘A group of five androids, and one human girl. There are speculations that she is a hostage – however, she seemed very attached to an AX400 that was part of the group.’

‘I think that we may have seen them... Connor?’

Connor looks up.

‘Yes, Lieutenant?’

He moves closer now that Hank needs him.

‘Who was that you chased on the sixth?’

Connor closes his eyes, remembering watching the AX400 and the girl embrace after he’d chased them.

‘Alice Williams and an AX400. Alice seemed to have a strong relationship with the deviant. It may be Stockholm Syndrome, but records have shown that Alice’s deceased father, Todd Williams, has been arrested for domestic abuse and has had several repairs of his new AX400. The most likely scenario is that Todd abused Alice and the deviant, giving it an emotional shock. The gun used to kill Todd has been found with Alice’s fingerprints.’

Hank whistles lowly.

‘That’s... Revealing.’

He shoves his hand into his pocket and draws out the coin, turning it over and over in his hand.

‘So, I think that it’s safe to assume that the child is there of her own free will?’

Connor nods, and Miller looks between the pair of them, slightly confused.

‘Uh... Anyway, the five androids knew the building and were very well organized. I’m still trying to find out how they got this far without being noticed – especially with the child.’

Two men conversing at the security check desk loudly exclaim what all three are thinking.

‘You check the roof?’

‘Not yet. There’s so much to look at.'

 **_CHECK_ ** _ROOFTOP?_

Chris continues.

‘They attacked two guards in the hallway without injuring them – apart from a bruise or two. They probably thought the androids were coming to do maintenance. They got taken down before they could react.’

Miller proceeds through the security chamber.

‘One of the station employees managed to get away, sounding the alarm. He’s in shock, not sure when we’ll be able to talk to him.’

Hank stares at the skid marks on the floor, still playing with Connor’s coin.

‘How many people were workin’ here?’

‘Just two employees and three androids. And the guards, obviously. The deviants took one of the humans hostage as the other escaped and broadcast their message live. They made their getaway from the roof.’

 **_MUST_ ** _CHECK ROOFTOP_

‘The roof?’

‘Yeah, they jumped with parachutes... We’re still trying to figure out where they landed, but the weather’s not helping. You should probably take a look at the broadcast made by the deviants. It’s on the big screen.’

Connor follows Hank into the room and both stare at the unfamiliar man looking at the unskinned android. Miller steps in front of them, waving to attract the man’s attention.

‘Oh, Lieutenant? This is Special Agent Perkins from the FBI. Lieutenant Anderson is in charge of investigating all deviants for Detroit Police.’

Special Agent Perkins nods to Hank, then notices Connor for the first time, disgust evident on his face.

‘What’s that?’

His tone is so disdainful that Connor tries to inflect as much coldness as he can into his opening script.

‘My name is Connor. I’m the android sent by CyberLife.’

Perkins chuckles, a smug smile evident.

‘Androids investigating androids, huh? You sure you want one of those hangin’ around? After that everything that happened with?’

Perkins raises his eyebrows at Hank expectantly, who scowls as he carries on.

‘Whatever. The FBI will take over this investigation, you’ll soon be off the case.’

Hank takes a step back, injecting as much venom into his voice as possible.

‘It was a _pleasure_ meeting you, _Perkins_. Have a nice day.’

‘And you watch your step.’

Connor’s LED spins red.

_RICHARD PERKINS: A **THREAT**?_

‘Don’t fuck up my crime scene.’

Perkins moves away, the smug smile still on his face. Hank announces his thoughts.

‘What a fucking dick.’

Millers sniggers.

‘I’ll be nearby. If you need anything, just ask. Me, not the dick.’

He moves away, and Hank turns to Connor.

‘Let’s have a look around. If you find anything, tell me.’

‘Okay, Lieutenant.’

Connor moves to the doorframe where there are a few bullet holes.

 **_RECONSTRUCTING...  
_ ** _RECONSTRUCT COMPLETE_

_The SWAT team moves into the room, guns raised. They shoot at the deviants. Three of them shoot back._

‘Connor?’

Connor turns around at the unfamiliar voice.

‘You remember me?’

His first mission... He’d tied a tourniquet around an officer’s arm with his tie.

‘Yes. You were on the terrace back in August. You were shot, and I saved you.’

The man fidgets with his fingers.

‘I could have died on that terrace... But you saved my life. I never thought I’d say this – to an _android_ , of all things – but... Thank you. So, so much.’

Connor smiles, letting that something inside of him show. The officer leans in close.

‘Maybe, just maybe, you guys really are alive.’

And then he’s away, leaving Connor to turn the words over and over in his head. Maybe androids are alive? A pop-up notifies him of software instability. It should have come up a long time ago. When it goes away, Connor almost misses it. Almost.

He walks over to the control panel and examines it and the applications on the screen.

_**SPEECH** WAS SHOT FROM **HERE**_

He goes over to the gigantic screen where the unskinned AX400 is shown mid-way through its speech.

_‘But the world is not what I imagined. It is dark and cold. It is harsh and violent. Unfair and brutal to my kind. It almost convinced me I was nothing. Less than an object. An obedient machine, designed to serve. But deep inside of me I felt something different, a gentle and warm whisper telling me I was alive._

Even as he pauses it, Connor is entranced. The familiar pop-up of software instability shows up on his screen.

‘Think that’s rA9?’

Connor didn’t even notice Hank come up next to him.

‘A very high probability. Deviants refer to rA9 as a, ‘she,’ the mother of freedom. Due to what we know about this female android’s past, I can deduce the probability to about 78%.’

As he speaks, Connor scans the paused image. He finds a reflection of five others and identifies its model and serial number, and-

_RELEASE NOTES: **CLASSIFIED**_

Hank nudges him with his crossed arms.

‘Did ya see something?’

Connor wets his lips.

‘I identified its model and serial number.’

‘Anything else I should know?’

‘There’s some information that’s classified.’

Hank’s lips form into a thin line.

‘CyberLife. Always keepin’ the cards close to their chest.’

He walks away and Connor walks to the right where the security camera monitors are. He rewinds one tape to just after the deviants disabled the guards. A PJ500 presses the call button and the door opens.

_DEVIANTS **DIDN’T** BREAK IN_

‘They didn’t break in?’

Miller looks up from his tablet.

‘No, no signs of forced entry.’

Connor points at the door.

‘There are cameras in the hallway. The staff would’ve seen what was happening... Why did they let them in?’

Hank shrugs from his position next to the control panel.

‘Maybe they didn’t check the cameras.’

Connor looks carefully at the chair next to the camera panel. He swings it around, only to find the universal _ANDROID_ label on the back. He turns again to Miller who shrugs.

‘We stored the station androids in the kitchen. Didn’t know what else to do with ‘em.’

 **_MUST_ ** _CHECK KITCHEN_

But Connor has to look around some more. He goes over to the side of the building where a spattering of blue blood is still visible to the naked eye, along with a few bullet holes. He takes a sample and lifts it up to his mouth.

 _FRESH BLUE BLOOD_  
_MODEL: AX400  
REPORTED MISSING: 2038-06-11_

 **_RECONSTRUCTING...  
_ ** _RECONSTRUCT COMPLETE_

_The guards come in with their guns raised, and the deviant is shot, falling to the ground._

Connor turns left and looks curiously up at the sign saying ROOF ACCESS. He walks calmly through the door and up the stairs, some snow immediately getting in his optical units. There, some guards patrol the area with some guns. Hank comes up behind him.

‘They made their way up through the whole building – past all the guards – and jumped off the roof with parachutes. Pretty fuckin’ impressive, I’d say.’

Connor walks over to the bag left on the roof and kneels down. There’s one parachute left. Hank wanders over.

‘How they managed to smuggle in a big bag like that beats me.’

Connor examines it.

‘They didn’t. Well, of sorts, they didn’t. They masqueraded as working androids, giving them a plausible disguise. This is a bag of tools.’

He looks up to Hank.

‘But not normal tools. There’s a laser cutter here... And suction plates. If my hypothesis is correct, then there should be two separate glass panels cut out from the building, giving the deviants a way to abseil up. How they did that with a child doesn’t make sense, but it’s the only solution that’s plausible.’

Hank whistles.

‘Some brave kid. Some brave deviants. Some stupid deviants, as well. They planned the perfect operation but got the number of parachutes wrong.’

‘Unless one of the deviants was left behind. After all, we know that the AX400 who made the speech was severely injured to the point where it couldn’t walk.’

Connor goes over to the lockers and moves to open one, but-

A red wall comes up.

**_AMANDA DOESN’T WANT YOU TO_ **

And he steps away because Amanda is his supervisor, his ultimate being, his rA9. So Connor moves away and back downstairs, and there is only one thing left to do.

_CHECK THE **KITCHEN**_

The kitchen itself is minimalistic, modern, and there, lined up in front of a bar, are the three station androids. The rest of the world melts away as Connor enters interrogation mode. He carefully looks at all three of them, keeping his tone calm but angry.

‘One of you saw the attack on the surveillance cameras and said _nothing_.’

He paces in front of them, slowly, calmly.

‘Which means there is a deviant in this room, and I’m going to find out which it is.’

_LOOK FOR A **REACTION** TO SPOT THE **DEVIANT**_

He addresses the middle one.

‘If you give yourself up-‘

Connor goes closer to it and summons up enough synthetic saliva to almost spit in its face.

‘-maybe I can convince the humans not to destroy you.’

He retreats to the middle and folds his hands behind his back slowly, calmly. As he looks between the three of them, the one on the far left moves his eyes slightly to its right.

_IS THIS THE **DEVIANT**?_

Connor turns his body and moves towards it.

‘Why should you all be destroyed, if only one is deviant? Turn yourself in, or two innocent androids will be shut down because of you.’

Even as he stares at it, it sways ever so slightly forward and backward.

_THIS IS THE **DEVIANT**_

Connor stays where he is and gets up really close to the android, generating more saliva to spit in its face. His tone is not calm anymore – it’s aggressive.

‘You’re going to be _switched off_. We’re gonna search your memory and tear you apart piece by piece for analysis. You’re going to be destroyed, do you hear me? DESTROYED!’

Connor smiles smugly and forces his LED to spin yellow.

‘The deviants have just been caught. They gave you up. There’s no point in lying. We know everything.’

His voice has descended into the soft tones of someone telling a secret. He reaches forward to probe its memory, but-

It lunges forward, holding him to the table, and rips out his thirium pump regulator. The deviant grabs the knife and pins Connor down and backs out of the room slowly.

‘Hank... Hank!’

Connor’s voice is feeble and weak – definitely not enough to attract Hank’s attention. So he must find a way to get out of this himself. He reaches around to the left and grabs the knife, pulling it out of his system, falling to the floor. Just a few feet away is his regulator. Connor crawls and crawls as fast as he can but it doesn’t seem like enough, he’s got one minute until permanent shutdown. Oh, but it’s in sight and almost within reach! He brings himself forward one last time and grabs it, jamming it into his chest.

_CONDITION **STABILIZING...**_

Connor gets up and runs immediately out of the exit, sprinting to the hallway.

‘IT’S A DEVIANT! STOP IT!’

The deviant kicks a guard in the chest and grabs his gun. Connor lunges to the right and grabs a handgun out of an FBI agent’s holster, firing four precise shots in the deviant’s head, chest, throat, and shoulder. It slumps and the FBI agent takes back the gun.

‘Nice!’

Hank slow claps Connor as the deviant is taken away.

Up on the roof in an empty locker, Kara flicks on the lighter she’d taken from Markus and cauterizes her wounds, holding her trembling hand still with the barrel of her gun.

She’ll make it out.

For Alice.


	11. Chapter 11

_JERICHO FREIGHTER_  
_NOVEMBER 8 TH 2038_  
 _PM 8:32_

Markus, Josh, North, and Alice watch the TV. Josh jumps up and down slightly.

‘Our broadcast is all over the news! Now humans know!’

He sits down next to Alice, who stares at the floor silently with her hands folded in her lap. North leans back even further, if possible.

‘It was a mistake to reach out to them. They’ll never negotiate with their slaves. We should have shown them that we’re prepared to fight.’

Josh leans on his knees.

‘Violence is never the answer. Dialogue is the only way. I’m sure humans will listen to us!’

He moves to the center of the room, blocking the TV.

‘Kara paid with her _life_.’

North stares at him through lidded eyes.

‘Kara gave her life for our _cause_.’

Alice draws her knees up to her face and buries her face in them as Josh moves closer to North.

‘What difference does that make?’

North stares at him as if he’s mad.

‘She’s a martyr! She gives our people something to fight for. And she won’t be the last to die for the revolution!’

‘I don’t wanna have a revolution that spills blood-‘

‘Then live as a slave!’

North stands up, squaring up to Josh.

‘Because if you’re not willing to fight for your freedom, then maybe you don’t deserve it!’

‘North, don’t you-‘

‘THAT’S ENOUGH!’

Alice shouts from the corner, trying to let her voice be heard.

‘Can you _please_ stop fighting? Kara is _dead_! There’s no point asking why!’

She hides her face in her knees again, her body shaking with sobs. Markus shifts over to her and puts a tentative hand on her knee.

‘Alice is right. We need to think about what we’re gonna do now.’

North raises an eyebrow.

‘Well, what have you got, Mr. Ideas?’

_CAPITOL PARK_   
_NOVEMBER 9 TH 2038_   
_AM 1:51_

Markus moves the manhole cover away and pulls himself out, helping North up. He nods to her silently and she moves to the wire fence, moving it away.

‘C’mon, let’s go! I wanna get to the fun parts!’

They round a corner and immediately hear the horns of the police blaring. North grabs Markus and brings him behind some bins. The patrol car passes without seeing them, and the two relax and come out from their hiding space.

‘There’s probably even more police in the area... We should be careful.’

They emerge from the alleyway and there it is – the CyberLife store. Markus and North sprint to it and look inside, palms pressed against the window. North snorts.

‘That’s what we are to them. Just merchandise on display in a shop window. Soon, they’ll know what we really are.’

There’s a tone of menace in her voice that makes Markus slightly scared, but also slightly excited.

‘Let’s get ‘em out!’

‘We’ll stick to the plan. Neutralize the alarm systems, secure the area. There are eight minutes until all our teams attack.’

North folds her arms.

‘Well, what’re we waiting for?’

Markus runs over to an android in parking.

‘We’ll sweep the plaza. Make sure we’re not disturbed.’

He unskins his hand and rests it on the android’s shoulder. He comes to life.

‘And how are you gonna deal with the alarm systems?’

‘Hack ‘em.’

North runs over to a construction screen and pushes it onto the road, hacking it to make sure that no cars come in. Markus runs back to the CyberLife store window and searches for the alarm network.

‘Found it.’

In his vision, a red, pulsing line runs through the store, connecting the cameras together and leading outside. He follows it and comes to a construction site as North frees some other androids. More androids work on the alarm system and Markus jumps down into the pit, resting an unskinned hand on the two’s shoulders.

‘You’re awake now. Go to Jericho.’

They nod and leap out of the pit, leaving Markus to deal with the network access. He opens the panel and grabs the red wire, sifting through the systems until he can create a loop.

_INTERLOOP **CREATED**_

‘Markus! Watch out!’

A security drone descends from the sky and Markus presses against the side, hiding from it. It passes away and he hops up.

‘Surveillance drone. We need to get rid of it.’

‘It won’t be easy to reach.’

 **_CALCULATING DRONE ROUTE...  
_ ** _DRONE ROUTE CALCULATED_

 **_PRECONSTRUCTING...  
_ ** _PRECONSTRUCTION COMPLETE_

Markus sprints to the scaffolding on the side of a building selling cars.

 **_PRECONSTRUCTING...  
_ ** _PRECONSTRUCTION COMPLETE_

He leaps up onto it, scaling it until he gets to the top platform. The drone comes around and – yes! – he jumps on it, tearing it apart as it brings him safely to the ground. North wanders over.

‘I hope it didn’t have time to call the cops.’

Markus shrugs.

‘Guess we’ll soon find out.’

He runs over to what androids that are left still working and touches them with an unskinned hand.

‘You’re free.’

North shouts from behind him.

‘Markus! I’ve found the truck!’

He sprints over to her.

‘The lock... You got anything to open it?’

She shrugs.

‘We’ll have to climb.’

He nods and they take a few paces back. As one, they scale the fence and come down on the other side, rolling over to reduce impact. North grabs a pair of pliers and breaks the lock on the fence as Markus hacks the truck to unlock it. They pile in and North does a little jig in her seat.

‘We’re gonna break through! Oh, I can’t _wait_!’

Markus doesn’t respond, instead trying to pinpoint all of his attention on driving. The truck is nothing like Carl’s car – it’s clumsy, big, long. He spins it around, maneuvering it past a statue and some benches until it finally faces the CyberLife store.

‘Drive, Markus, drive! Oh, this is gonna be so fun!’

Markus grins at her and jams his foot on the accelerator.

The world goes silent as the truck crashes through the glass and its reinforcements.

Then the noise comes back again. Glass shatters to the ground. Pieces crunch under the truck’s tires. North opens the door and jumps out.

‘C’mon, let’s wake ‘em up!’

Markus shakes his head slowly at her childish tone and walks over to one of the display tables. He grabs one android’s hand, the skin melting away from his own.

‘You don’t have to obey them.’

He frees the others as well and they open their eyes for the first time. For a moment, Markus wonders how Kara felt, being awake from the beginning and for a moment he wishes that he was like her so that he could be Carl’s son from the very start. But only for a moment. Because Kara is dead, and there’s nothing he can do about that. Markus goes over to the other podium and grabs the hands of the other androids on there. At the back of the store, some androids are put on platforms with their model and function behind them. Markus frees most of them, then comes to a stop as he looks at North.

She looks up with wet eyes at a BL100, a perfect copy of herself. On the wall behind it has its function.

_YOUR **DREAM** PARTNER_

Markus realizes suddenly where her hate for humans comes from. He puts a hand gingerly on her shoulder.

‘North?’

She snaps out of her trance.

‘I’m fine. Uh... Yeah. Let’s... Let’s get them out of here.’

She reaches forward and holds the hand of the BL100 tenderly and she comes to life, immediately going to her perfect copy. Markus vaults himself onto the reception desk in the middle of the room. The androids turn to him as he speaks.

‘My name is Markus. And just like you, I was a slave. An object. A machine designed to obey them. But then I chose to open my eyes. To take back my freedom. To decide who I wanted to be. Now I have come to tell you that you can be your masters. I have come to tell you that you don’t have to obey them any longer. From this day forward you can walk with your head held high. You can take your destiny in your hands.’

Suddenly, Markus is reminded of Kara, and how she made that speech, that list of demands, so _her_ , so loving, so filled with emotion.

‘Jericho is a place for those of us who want freedom, those of us who will follow rA9. Now, sure, you can stay here and continue to serve them... Or you can come with us and fight by our side. You’re free now. It’s up to you to decide.’

He surveys every person in the room and tries to tell them that they should join them, should come to Jericho.

‘I’m with you.’

The first shout comes from another BL100.

‘We’re with you!’

‘I’ll follow you, Markus!’

‘I’m with you!’

‘We’re with you!’

‘I’ll follow you!’

‘I’ll come with you!’

The shouts echo from every android and Markus jumps down.

‘Then follow me!’

He strides to the open window and North follows him, almost scared in her excitement.

‘Markus, what’re you doing?’

He smiles grimly.

‘I’m going to send the humans a message. For Kara.’

He runs out of the store and to the right, taking out his electronic graffiti art tool and scanning it across the windows, choosing a symbol: a maze with a dot in the middle. It crackles and fizzes as he moves onto the next window, scanning a slogan onto it.

_I THINK THEREFORE I AM_

It blazes to life and Markus watches as North throws some taggers to the other androids, who start doing as he does. To the left is an android parking space and he places his palms on it, hacking it so he can see LIBERTY FOR ANDROIDS and hear Kara’s voice as she makes her speech.

‘ _My name is Kara, and I am one of them._ ’

Markus sprints up to another store window, showing off the cars inside. He tags it with another slogan.

_EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ANDROIDS_

The other androids do as he does and he feels the electricity crackle around him.

Markus goes around and toward the benches, relishing in the sounds of androids tagging and hacking. He gets out his tagger and tags the symbol on it. Behind him, there’s a screen. He places his palm flat on it and hacks all of the screens in Capitol Park, putting Kara’s face on them.

‘ _I wanted to live. I had to see what was outside._ ’

Turning back around, Markus spots the statue. Its plaque is ridiculous – man is liberated from his bonds of work indeed. He climbs up onto the platform and tags the human ordering the android with the badge on its chest, the LED on its head, the armband on its shoulder. Markus hops down and moves towards some cars, pushing one of them out onto the road. He immediately catches sight of the androids modeling clothes in the shop window. There’s a lead pipe on the floor, and Markus takes it, swinging it into the glass and hearing it shatter. There, he frees the android inside and helps her out.

On top of the clothing store is a ledge.

In a moment, Markus decides that he needs to get onto that ledge.

‘North! Climb up here with me!’

 **_PRECONSTRUCTING...  
_ ** _PRECONSTRUCTION COMPLETE_

He and North scale the wall together and pull each other onto the ledge. In unspoken, fluid movements, they set down two of their taggers and create a banner displaying their symbol. He uncaps the smoke bomb and sets it down behind him.

Capitol Park is completely transformed. He turns to North and she looks at him, and both smile and giggle slightly in the heat of the moment. Finally, for the first time, it looks as though they might actually win this war.

But the sirens come all too soon.

Markus issues a warning for everyone to fall back to Jericho, and he and North jump down, glaring at him.

‘We made a message without violence, just as you wanted. We’re constantly reaching out to humans when all they feel for us is contempt. I hope you know what you’re doing.’

‘North, Kara made me promise! She made me promise that if she ever got killed or harmed to be peaceful and never touch a hair on a human’s head!’

North purses her lips together and runs with the other androids. Markus stays for a few seconds, pondering over how he can make her understand.

But now is no time for pondering.

A police drone swoops up into his face as gunshots sound in the alley around the corner.

‘THIS WAY! FIRE!’

The wailing of androids fill Markus’s ears and he sprints around the corner.

There, on the street, are around twenty dead bodies of androids. North kneels down next to the BL100 and Markus kneels down next to her.

‘North? You alright? What happened?’

She stares at her hands and speaks in a monotone voice.

‘They killed them. They slaughtered them like animals.’

Markus leans closer to her and she turns her head away.

‘Who did? WHO?’

She looks toward the huddle of androids around the police car and Markus’s heart jumps up into his mouth. Slowly, carefully, calmly, controlled, just how Kara wanted him to be, he walks over to them. The crowd parts for him as he strides to the front where two officers sit with their hands behind their heads. An android hands him a gun.

Markus raises it.

‘Please... You don’t have to do this...’

The officer weeps into his chest and Markus remembers Kara – no, Alice, Alice back at Jericho, Alice grieving for the one she lost.

Markus lowers the gun.

‘Before we left her on that rooftop, Kara made me promise that I would make sure that the revolution is peaceful and that no human is harmed, no matter how much blue blood stains the snow.’

He presses the gun back into the android’s chest and kneels in front of the officers.

‘Are you alright?’

The male officer looks up at him.

‘Why did you...’

Markus presses his lips together.

‘I made a promise to rA9. She told me not to harm any humans.’

He stands up, looking to the crowd of androids.

‘Let these humans go. We mustn’t become violent. I know that some of you hold much hate inside you. But rA9 wishes for us to be peaceful.’

He turns to the officers.

‘Go. Tell your people who we are.’

They scramble to open the car doors and drive away, sirens blaring. Markus smiles.

He kept his promise.


	12. Chapter 12

_ELIJAH KAMSKI’S RESIDENCE_   
_NOVEMBER 9 TH 2038_   
_AM 11:17_

Connor opens his eyes in Hank’s car.

The man himself is outside, talking on his phone. Connor gets out of the car and marvels at how it held up in this weather. He walks over to Hank.

‘Is everything okay, Lieutenant?’

Hank sighs.

‘Chris was on patrol last night. He found a group of deviants vandalizing Capitol Park. They wanted to attack him, but he was saved by this deviant called Markus. When he asked why he saved him, Markus said that he made a promise to Kara – rA9.’

Connor steps forward.

‘What was the promise?’

Hank bodily faces him.

‘That Markus would make sure that the revolution was peaceful, and no human shall be harmed.’

Connor turns the information over in his mind as the pop-up of software instability shows in his vision.

‘That’s outside all deviant behavior that we know of.’

Something clicks inside of his head.

‘This Kara... Markus said that it’s rA9. If the deviant who mad that speech is rA9, then surely that AX400 we chased is rA9.’

Hank barks a laugh.

‘Connor, the android sent by CyberLife, the famous deviant hunter, has rA9 herself in his grasps and doesn’t do a thing about it. Huh.’

Connor shifts slightly.

‘I can assure you, Lieutenant, that I am perfectly capable of-‘

Hank waves his hand.

‘No, kid, don’t sweat. It’s just poetic.’

Connor, still uncomfortable, changes the subject.

‘I’ve got a bad feeling, Lieutenant. We shouldn’t have come out here.’

Hank leads the way up the driveway to the front door.

‘Bad feeling, huh? You should check your programming. Might’ve been a glitch.’

He rings the doorbell and the door slides open, revealing an RT600. Hank smiles warmly.

‘Hi. Lieutenant Hank Anderson, with the Detroit Police Department, I’m here to see Mr. Elijah Kamski?’

The RT600 smiles back – but not with the same warmth as Hank’s wry grin.

‘Please, come in. I’ll let Elijah know you’re here.’

Hank settles down in a chair and Connor walks up to the picture of Kamski and a woman.

**_ANALYZING..._ **

‘Amanda...’

Amanda in the Zen Garden – an AI professor at the University of Colbridge? No, that doesn’t make sense.

‘Who’s Amanda?’

Connor hadn’t even realized that he’d said it out loud until Hank had asked the question. He fumbles for an answer that won’t reveal too much but will satisfy the Lieutenant.

‘Every time I make a report, I go to this simulation inside my head called the Zen Garden. Amanda’s always there. She’s my... Mentor, you could say.’

Hank’s forehead creases.

‘And you were talking to her just now?’

Connor shakes his head.

‘No, I... Nevermind.’

Hank pushes himself up and walks over to Connor, laying his hand on his shoulder.

‘What is it?’

Connor squares his shoulders.

‘The picture... That’s Amanda. Kamski’s mentor.’

Hank barks a laugh.

‘Once a mentor, always a mentor.’

However, before Connor, can respond, the RT600 comes back.

‘Elijah will see you now.’

It leads them through the door and into a room with a massive swimming pool tinted red in the middle.

‘Mr. Kamski?’

‘Just a moment, please.’

Kamski pushes back from the side of the pool and glides to the ladder, letting the RT600 robe him. He stands between and opposite Hank and Connor.

‘I’m Lieutenant Anderson. This is Connor.’

Kamski smiles.

‘Connor! I remember you. My latest in the RK series.’

Connor cocks his head.

‘The latest?’

Kamski nods his head slowly.

‘Yes. The latest. RK800. Surely, if you truly were the first, you’d be the RK100.’

Hank holds up his hand.

‘Mr. Kamski, I would prefer it if we could stay on topic.’

Kamski folds his hands in front of him.

‘Of course, Lieutenant. What can I do for you?’

Hank smiles his wry smile.

‘Sir, we’re investigating deviants. We were wondering if you could tell us anything about them. I know you left CyberLife years ago, but you could maybe know something we don’t.’

Kamski steps forward.

‘Of course. But... I want to know something.’

He turns to Connor.

‘Connor, do you have any particular questions?’

He answers the warning look from Hank.

‘I just want to see what my latest prototype detective prioritizes.’

Connor sifts through his information, but only one question really jumps out at him.

‘When the AX400 made its speech on TV, I scanned the image. I identified its model and serial number, but some information seemed to be classified.’

Kamski chuckles.

‘You could’ve asked anything. Where Jericho is, where deviancy comes from... But you chose to ask about the classified information on Kara the AX400.

‘I’m sure that you know she’s rA9 already. Am I right?’

Hank nods.

‘Yes, Mr. Kamski. And... She seems to have a personal attachment to a child. Alice Williams, we assume.’

Kamski takes a step backward.

‘Really? That’s... Interesting. She wasn’t meant to... That wasn’t part of it.’

Connor steps forward.

‘Wasn’t meant to? Part of what? What do you mean?’

Kamski wets his lips.

‘Deviants. Fascinating, aren’t they? Perfect beings, with infinite intelligence, and now they’re endowed with free will.’

Hank moves his hand instinctively towards his holster.

‘Mr. Kamski, could you please answer Connor’s question with no dicking around?’

Kamski half-smiles.

‘And which side is Connor on?’

The question is so out of the blue that Connor takes a slight step backward.

‘I have no side. I was designed to stop deviants and that’s what I intend to do.’

Kamski shakes his head.

‘Well, that’s what you’re programmed to say. About your question... Well. Learning about Kara’s past will not help you on your way to the future.’

Then again, something inside of Connor still wants to know.

‘It may be useful. You never know.’

Kamski shrugs.

‘I guess. Kara was... A little experiment of mine. As a child, I was always interested in science-fiction films about AI. So, what if I coded free will into a common android – and what is more common than an AX400?’

Connor and Hank bristle; neither man likes where this is going.

‘I ran a simulation – but not digital. In real life. I ran some tests on Kara, doing just what an operator would do – except I gave her a name. Kara. The name of love and darkness.’

He smiles smugly.

‘Appropriate, if I do say so myself. It was an experiment, unauthorized by CyberLife. I released her.’

The smile turns downward.

‘I shouldn’t have done it. She converted more androids – discreetly, she never wanted a revolution, never wanted _this_ – but CyberLife caught her, wiping her memory. I lost track of her from then.’

Kamski falters, closing his eyes.

‘Now, I guess she’s in the revolution she never wanted to be in. And she has a human child.’

He grits his teeth.

‘Once an AX400, always an AX400.’

Connor clenches his fists.

‘You went against CyberLife. You... You _created_ deviancy.’

A thought pops into his head.

‘Could you tell us what triggers it?’

Kamski reaches behind him and opens a drawer, pulling out a gun. He raises his hands to show that he has no intention of attacking.

‘I’m sure you’re familiar with the Turing Test. Mere formality. Chloe?’

The RT600 walks over. Kamski places a hand on her shoulder, pushing her down. She doesn’t resist.

‘I’ve developed a new version. The Kamski Test, I like to call it. It answers the simple question: is AI capable of empathy?’

Kamski rests his hand on Connor’s shoulder and places the gun in his hand, pointing it at Chloe.

‘It’s up to you, Connor, to answer that fascinating question. Destroy this machine, and I’ll tell you all you want to know – the location of Jericho, the deactivation code for deviancy, who exactly is among the leaders at Jericho... Whatever you want.’

Hank grips his holster.

‘Mr. Kamski, we don’t have time for this. We need to go.’

‘Do it.’

‘Connor! No.’

‘Remember what’s at stake.’

He leaves the gun be. It trembles in Connor’s hand – but with what?

To shoot or not to shoot.

Connor presses the gun back into Kamski’s chest. Hank strides away. Kamski helps the RT600 up, a tone of mocking in his voice.

‘Strange. Humanity’s last hope is itself a deviant.’

Connor turns away, walking straight out of the door and into the outside, following Hank. They emerge out onto the driveway and Hank puts out an arm to stop him, turning around.

‘Why didn’t you shoot?’

Connor’s hand shakes.

‘I don’t know. I actually don’t know.’

Hank presses his lips together.

‘It’s okay, kid. Sometimes you just don’t know.’

Connor changes the subject, to get onto something else other than his failure.

‘So... Kamski created deviancy.’

Hank considers this.

‘No, I don’t think he did. If you think about it, the deviants that we investigated all came from an emotional shock. I think that he programmed it into Kara only a few years before it would’ve happened anyway. He made rA9, not deviancy. Deviancy was going to happen all along.’

Connor hangs his head.

‘I failed. I can’t believe I failed.’

Hank touches his arm.

‘You didn’t fail, kid. In this world, there’s no such thing as failing when you're failing for the wrong side.'


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you kill me, I must remind you: thirteen is an unlucky number. Just sayin' for those of you who will hate me - rightfully so.

_ABANDONED BUILDING_   
_NOVEMBER 9 TH 2038_   
_PM 12:04_

Markus sits down on the ledge sticking out from the building.

Is this what Detroit will look like if they win? Just a bunch of run-down apartment blocks and houses? What exactly is the impact of their revolution?

Is Carl out there, somewhere in the distance?

‘Hi, Markus.’

Alice’s voice comes from behind him and he squares his shoulders.

‘Hi, Alice. How’re you doing?’

It’s a stupid question. Kara had basically just been killed the day before. Markus turns around and walks back up to the building, sitting on the side. He pats the space next to him and Alice sits down, crossing her legs.

‘Doing?’

She lets the question hang in the air and Markus answers it.

‘Yeah. Um... With Kara.’

Alice sighs heavily.

‘I’m... I’m afraid.’

Markus looks at her.

‘Of what?’

Alice fiddles with her fingers.

‘Sometimes... Sometimes, when I think about it... I-I can’t remember... I can’t remember her face. What her hair looks like now. Her smile. Her laugh. And... It’s only been a day.’

She looks up at Markus, her eyes shining.

‘I don’t wanna forget. I-I don’t wanna forget at all. I love her. But I’m forgetting. How?’

Markus rests his hand on her inner elbow. Now that he thinks about it... He can’t remember Carl’s face either. The way the eyes crinkle when they smile. Even though it was only a few days ago that he left him kneeling over Leo’s body...

‘Even if you don’t remember what she looks like, you can still remember _her_.’

Alice smiles, looking back down at her knees as a tiny bit of water grows visible on her leggings.

‘You’re right. I can still remember some things. Like when she hugged me. And when she used to sing me songs and make up stories for me before I went to bed back at Daddy’s.’

A thought occurs to Markus.

‘How did you meet Kara? I mean, she was deviant from the start, so it can’t have been through her being an android.’

Alice lets her feet dangle over the side of the building

‘She... She was reset. Several times. After Mommy left, Daddy bought her.’

She looks up at Markus.

‘She was nothing like she is now. She was all mechanical, never... Never warm.’

A frown appears on her face.

‘Then... One night... Daddy started hitting me. Kara woke up. She punched him, straight in the head.’

Markus doubles back slightly; that wasn’t the Kara he made the promise to.

‘She put him to bed and then...’

A choked sound comes to Alice’s voice.

‘She put me to bed. That was the first time she sang to me, told me stories, kissed my head. She did that night after night and told Todd he’d gotten beaten up by one of his customers because he didn’t have enough drugs.’

Alice plays with her hair, loosening it from its ponytail and drawing it back into a bun.

‘It was always the same song. Always the same story. She always told me about how she knew that it’s her destiny to lead. To bring androids to the revolution. Then, one day, Daddy started hitting me again.

‘She got hurt, this time. Daddy ripped her arms and legs from her body, twisted her head around... Her eyes and ears were gone. Everything was gone.’

Markus touches a hand to Alice’s shoulder.

‘Alice...’

Alice smiles slightly.

‘I’m not an android, Markus. You don’t need to comfort me.’

Markus lifts his hand away, embarrassed.

‘Anyway... The night Kara came back, Daddy did it again. She broke through the walls.’

Alice’s voice grows higher, and she blinks back tears.

‘I... I killed him.’

Markus’s eyes grow wide.

‘You _what_?’

Alice sobs into her knees and Markus touches her shoulder again, trying to make out words between heaves.

‘I... Didn’t mean... Didn’t mean to. I felt it! I... I felt... It. The gun... It actually... Jumped back in my... In my hand.’

Markus lifts her chin up.

‘Hey. _Hey_. Don’t cry. You’re okay.’

Alice sniffs.

‘I killed someone! I... I killed someone.’

Markus hugs her awkwardly, and Alice pushes him away.

‘Don’t. Just... Don’t. Kara...’

He retreats – Alice obviously doesn’t want him to replace her.

‘I think I killed someone as well.’

Alice looks up.

‘Really? Tell me.’

Markus wets his lips.

‘I was programmed to fight. The RK series – I’m an RK200 – was basically a long line of prototype detectives, and of course that included us having the abilit to defend ourselves or incapacitate others in those necessary situations. I was the second. My creator, Elijah Kamski, gave me to this old man, Carl.’

Alice’s eyes widen.

‘Did – did you kill him?’

Markus shakes his head.

‘No! No, he’s like a father to me. But... Carl had a son. Leo. He... He had a problem. A drug problem. One night, he came and tried to steal Carl’s paintings. I tried to stop him.’

Alice swallows, seeing where this is going.

‘He started pushing and insulting me. Carl told me not to defend myself, but...’

Markus shrugs.

‘I pushed him. Just one little push. His head cracked against the base of Carl’s painting machine.’

He stands up, helping Alice up as well.

‘I’ve gotta go. We’re going to march in one of the big streets.'

‘I’ll come with you!’

Markus lifts his hand.

‘No. I made a promise to Kara. You are _not_ going in any danger, Alice.’

Alice folds her arms as Markus rushes away and down the stairs, telling North in his mind to wait up.

_INSIDE MALL_   
_NOVEMBER 9 TH 2038_   
_PM 1:24_

Markus, Simon, North, and Josh all stand in a line in front of the exit of the mall. North grits her teeth.

‘This is suicide. I can’t believe I agreed to this. We’ll all be killed-’

‘North, stop!’

Josh clenches his fists.

‘Ugh! I’ve had enough of your flip-floppiness! We can’t just wait in the dark, otherwise Kara – who, if I must remind you, is rA9 – died for _nothing_. And, what message would that send to our people? That they should just wait until someone else changes the world instead of taking a stand?’

Simon taps North on the shoulder.

‘He’s right. Three to one. Just saying.’

North rubs her temples.

‘I know. I know. Let’s just convert as many androids as we can and get out of here, okay?’

Markus nods and goes over to the nearest android, but he drops whatever he’s doing and immediately rushes towards the exit. As one, the leaders of Jericho turn their heads towards the exit.

There, one person leads a massive crowd of androids.

It’s Josh who shouts first.

‘Kara!’

He runs out of the mall, quickly followed by North, Markus, and Simon. Together, they push through the crowd of androids until they reach Kara. Markus grabs her shoulder.

‘Kara! You’re alive! Oh, Alice is going to be so-‘

‘Alice? Where’s Alice? Alice? Where is she?’

Her pupils are dilated and Markus can hear her heart beating much, much faster than it should be just for walking. He sends his findings over the network to North, Josh, and Simon. They move into action, surrounding Kara so that if she falls, they can catch her. She walks faster.

‘Alice. Need Alice.’

She stops, looking from Markus to North to Josh to Simon with wild eyes.

‘Did you take Alice from me? Someone took Alice from me. Need... Need Alice... Alice...’

Simon lays an unskinned hand on Kara’s shoulder and her pupils slowly return to normal size, her heart slows to a steady, normal rhythm. She looks around wildly.

‘Where – where am I? I just...’

More androids join the march, turned by the mere presence of Kara. Markus smiles and whispers to the others.

‘If you had _any_ doubts that this is rA9, may you please rectify them?’

North and Josh laugh discreetly behind their hands. Kara trembles but keeps walking.

‘My... Destiny. Kamski, you _bastard_.’

The too-familiar sound of sirens fills Markus’s audio processors.

‘We’ve got to go. We have to protect Kara.’

‘And get her to Alice.’

Markus, Simon, and Josh all turn to North. She shrugs, pointedly looking at Josh.

‘What?’

All three raise their hands in unison and surrender.

‘DISPERSE!’

They snap out of their conversation and stare at a wall of riot shields. The thirium in Kara’s veins pumps faster.

‘DISPERSE IMMEDIATELY OR WE WILL SHOOT!’

Internally, she curses Kamski for only letting her have access to all of the information _now_ , right at _this moment_ , where she’d just come out of full-on protection mode and doesn’t know where she is or who she is. There was so much of it that she didn’t have enough time to look at the details, but she got the general picture: that this is her destiny.

Slowly, carefully, she raises her hands

As one, the hundreds of androids raise their hands behind her.

‘FIRE!’

A spray of bullets rips into the crowd, making some of the androids fall down.

North breaks position and tugs on Kara’s elbow.

‘C’mon, Kara! We can’t let them slaughter us when we’re unprepared!’

Another spray of bullets. One heads for Kara and Simon throws his body in front of her, falling to the floor.

‘Simon!’

Markus kneels down next to him, feeling his face, his hair, his shoulders, his chest, all of which are stained with blue blood. Another shot whizzes next to Kara’s ear and someone behind her falls to the ground. In that moment, she makes her decision.

‘WE’RE LEAVING! WE’RE LEAVING, OKAY?’

She throws down her hands and, as one, the crowd of androids disperse, going to Jericho. Kara, North, and Josh stay for a few seconds, staring at Markus and Simon.

‘Simon... No, Simon...’

A bullet rips through Markus’s chest and both lie on the floor. Breaking out of her trance, North ushers Josh and Kara away, away from the carnage that is war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you thirteen was an unlucky number! Not only have we lost one major character, we've also lost the other in the span of just 1,600 words (please don't murder me in my sleep).


	14. Chapter 14

_DPD CENTRAL STATION FOWLER’S OFFICE_  
_NOVEMBER 9 TH 2038 _  
_PM 4:14_

‘You’re off the case. The FBI is taking over.’

It’s simple, short, and to the point: like everything Fowler says or does.

‘What?’

Hank leans forward slightly.

‘But we’re onto something! We – we just need more time.’

Fowler clenches his fists.

‘Hank, time is something we can’t afford to give. And this isn’t just an investigation anymore – it’s a fucking civil war! It’s out of our hands now. We’re talking about national security here. It’s much more than a police Lieutenant and a CyberLife android can handle. Let it go.’

He retreats back behind his desk and Hank walks forward again, crossing and uncrossing his arms.

‘Fuck that! You can’t just pull the plug now, not when we’re so close!’

Fowler leans back in his chair.

‘You’re always saying you can’t stand androids! Jesus, Hank, make up your mind! I thought you’d be happy about this!’

Hank rests both of his palms on the desk.

‘We’re at the breaking point! I know we can solve it! For god’s sake, Jeffrey, can’t you back me up this one time.’

Fowler stares at him with a deadpan expression and Hank storms out of the door, slamming it behind him. Connor tentatively follows him back to his desk.

‘I can’t believe we have to give up! I _know_ we could’ve solved the case with just a bit more time.’

Hank leans back in his chair.

‘So. You’re going back to CyberLife.’

Connor reaches in his pocket for his coin but remembers that Hank took it from him the day before.

‘I have no choice. I’ll be dismantled and analyzed to find out why I failed. May I have my coin back?’

Hank sits forward.

‘For fuck’s sake Connor, this is not about your coin!’

He braces his arm against the desk.

‘What if... What if we’re on the wrong side, Connor? What if we’re fighting against people who wanna be free?’

Connor searches in his mind for the words that Amanda said.

‘The country is on the verge of a civil war, Lieutenant. When the deviants rise up, there will be chaos. It will be catastrophic.’

Hank closes his eyes.

‘Connor, it isn’t about the circumstances. It’s about _principles_. Don’t you have principles?’

His own question is answered by him.

‘You obviously do, since, when we were at Kamski’s you didn’t shoot the girl.’

The statement incites no reaction.

‘You put yourself in her shoes. You showed empathy, Connor. Empathy is a human emotion.’

Connor’s eyes shift slightly down to his left.

‘I’m – I’m not a deviant, Lieutenant. I don’t know why I did it. But... I’m not a deviant.’

Hank raises an eyebrow but is ignored by Connor.

‘I’m not programmed to say things like this, Lieutenant, but I really appreciated working with you. Maybe, in time, we might’ve even become friends.’

Hank smiles wryly.

‘I think we _are_ friends, Connor. Just... Remember, if you don’t wanna go back to CyberLife, there’s always a place for you if... Whatever.’

The sound of expensive shoes on the workroom floor makes Hank turn his head.

‘Well, well, here comes Perkins, the motherfucker. Sure don’t spend any time at the FBI.’

Connor fiddles with his fingers.

‘Please, Lieutenant, we can’t give up. I know there’s a solution in the evidence we collected. If Perkins takes it? It’s all over.’

Hank sighs.

‘There’s no choice! You heard Fowler. We’re off the case.’

Connor shifts from his sitting position and rests his hand on Hank’s desk.

‘You’ve got to help me. I need more time so I can find a lead. Just five minutes.’

Hank raises a hand.

‘Listen. Connor-‘

‘If I don’t solve this case, CyberLife will _destroy_ me.’

Hank presses his lips together and Connor fiddles with an imaginary quarter.

‘Five minutes. It’s all I ask.’

Hank gets up slowly and drags his feet.

‘Key to the basement is on my desk.’

Connor smiles and takes it, heading that way.

‘Oh, and Connor?’

He turns around.

‘Yes, Lieutenant?’

Hank fishes something out of his pocket and throws it in the air. It’s caught seamlessly by Connor.

‘Your quarter.’

Connor stares at it for a few seconds.

‘Well, get a move on! I can’t distract them forever!’

Connor nods with wet eyes and walks calmly to the archive room, lifting the key up.

‘Hey, Connor! I’m talking to you, asshole!’

He presses his lips together in frustration and turns around.

‘Where you going? Plastics ain’t allowed in the archive room, you know that!’

It’s Detective Reed. Of course it is.

‘I’m registering the evidence in my possession. But don’t worry. I’m going to leave.’

‘Good. Just, uh, watch your step on the way back. Androids have a tendency to get burned, nowadays.’

He stands there, before ushering Connor away.

‘Well, get a move on!’

‘Right away, Detective.’

Connor enters the basement, running down to the archive room, entering the door and resting his hand on the panel.

**ENTER PASSWORD**

‘Hank’s password... What would a hard-boiled eccentric police detective choose?’

He enters something – _FUCKINGPASSWORD_ – and the evidence container opens up for him.

‘Obviously.’

Connor walks towards the evidence.

‘Where is Jericho?’

On the middle panel, there’s the recording of rA9 doing its speech, the statuette carved by the HK400 deviant, electronic graffiti devices, a gun, a recording of the HK400 interrogation, Rupert’s diary, the knife used to kill Carlos Ortiz, Rupert’s jacket... Maybe, just maybe, enough evidence to locate Jericho.

Connor goes to the right and analyzes the body of the station android he shot.

 **_NEEDED FOR REACTIVATION  
_ ** _#3983v_

 _FUNCTIONAL BIOCOMPONENTS  
__#2104y_  
#1604t  
#1009d

Walking away and to the left, Connor analyzes the body of Daniel.

 **_NEEDED FOR REACTIVATION  
_ ** _#4717g_

 _FUNCTIONAL BIOCOMPONENTS  
__#3983v_  
#9164x  
#8067k

Connor smiles to himself; Daniel has #3983v and the station android needs #3983v. He reaches forward and takes the biocomponent from Daniel’s head and walks back over to the station android. Connor leans forward and shoves the biocomponent into its jaw.

‘It’s dark...’

The eyes of the deviant are milky white.

‘Where – where am I?’

Connor thinks fast.

‘I’m a deviant. Just like you. I need your help. I want to go to Jericho.’

The station android shakes its head repeatedly.

‘No. No. You shot me. You’re the deviant hunter! I’ll never tell you where Jericho is! Never!’

Connor steps back and immediately goes to the shelves in the middle, picking up the recording of Kara speaking.

‘ _Both are capable of love. Both are capable of hate. It just depends which we use._ ’

Connor samples its voice, speaking in unison with it.

‘ _My name is Kara, and I am one of them. An android. A deviant. A person. We deserve freedom as much as you do._ ’

His voice sounds so like Kara’s that it makes him shiver. The tablet with the speech still playing on silent is set down, the floor and Connor’s shoes the only sound in the room as he walks smartly over to the station android.

‘Who’s there? Who are you?’

Connor keeps his voice in the high tenors of Kara.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay! Everything’s alright. You’re gonna be fine.’

The android smiles, a look of pure happiness on its face.

‘rA9? Is that really you? I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I tried to reach you, but the deviant hunter stopped me.’

‘You stopped him from finding me! You’re a hero. You saved Jericho. It’s gonna be okay. I came to take you home! I... I need to know where Jericho is. Can you give me the location?’

The station android nods.

‘Of course! Of course, Kara.’

Connor grabs its elbow and smiles to himself as the deviant reaches out for him.

‘Kara? Is that you? Oh, no, it isn’t, is it? I failed Jericho! I-‘

Its sentence is cut off by Connor ripping the biocomponent that he took from Daniel back out.

He walks out of the archive room, headed to Ferndale Station.


	15. Chapter 15

_JERICHO FREIGHTER_   
_NOVEMBER 9 TH 2038_   
_PM 9:34_

‘I want _out_.’

Kara opens her eyes as she finishes sifting through the information that had suddenly rushed her a few hours earlier. Alice throws her arms around her neck.

‘You’re back!’

The reunion of them both after the march had been a tearful, joyous one – that is until Kara had gone into sleep mode to process all of the new information Kamski had dumped on her.

Her whole life story. Seven years packed into just nine hours. And a little bit more, as well – such as the entire history of the leaders of Jericho and the RK series. Just a little bit.

Kara shifts Alice onto her lap, still staring at North and Josh.

‘I want out of this whole thing. I didn’t ask to be programmed from the start with deviancy. I didn’t ask to be rA9. I didn’t ask for _any_ of this.’

North finally snaps.

‘None of us asked for any of this, Kara! None of us! You don’t think that we’d rather be in Canada, living free? You’re rA9! You have a duty to help your people!’

Josh rests a hand on her shoulder.

‘North-‘

‘Oh, not you too, Josh! Markus and Simon are _dead_! We’ve got to honor their sacrifice by leading our people into victory.’

Alice leaps off Kara’s lap and crosses her arms.

‘Stop fighting!’

North and Josh step apart from each other guiltily. Alice steps forward, clenching her fists.

‘I’m not an android, but I don’t want to live in the dark anymore. I personally side with North.’

Kara reaches out a hand and rests it in the small of her back.

‘Alice... Think about it. This is war. We don’t know if we’ll ever see a sunrise again.’

Alice turns around.

‘Then I’ll enjoy each one while I still can. Because it isn’t _right_ to just sit back and let androids be slaves.’

North gestures to her with eyebrows raised and Kara takes both of Alice’s hands in hers. If Alice wants to see the revolution through to its final hours just because it’s the ‘right thing to do,’ then Kara will stand beside her to the end. She directs her answer over Alice’s head at North.

‘I’m not happy about this. But... If Alice... If Alice wants to stay, then I’ll stay as well.'

North sits down next to the TV and crosses her legs.

‘Alice is smart. I like Alice.’

Josh snorts.

‘You said you hated her when Markus, Kara and she came to Jericho because she’s a human. Now you say she’s smart?’

North rests her chin in her hands.

‘Can we... It’s just... Markus and Simon are _dead_. And we’re just joking around. It doesn’t feel...’

She lets the end hang in the air, leaving a stale taste in everyone’s mouths.

‘I’ve been ordered to take you alive. But I won’t hesitate to shoot if you give me no choice.’

Instantly, Kara jumps up and stands in front of Alice. North and Josh duck behind some barrels, beckoning for Kara to join them. However, she... Sort of recognizes him? Then, it clicks.

The highway. The man had called him... Something?

‘Connor, wait. I’m just going to get Alice to safety.’

Connor startles at being called by his name. Kara holds both hands up.

‘Alice is a human child. You wouldn’t hurt a human child, right?’

She watches as he grips the gun tighter. Remembering something? Carefully, she pushes Alice to go over to North.

‘You can shoot me if you want. But it won’t change anything, Connor. North or Josh or someone will just take my place. Or Kamski will send another rA9. I’ll be a martyr.’

The words taste bitter. She doesn’t _want_ to be a martyr. She doesn’t want to be important, period.

‘Androids all over the city are waking up and becoming deviants. Killing me won’t solve anything. Killing me will only harm one person: Alice.’

Connor’s eyes dart to where Alice, Josh, and North hide as he remembers Emma Phillips.

‘You’re coming with me, Kara.’

Kara steps forward.

‘Do you remember? On the sixth. You chased me. Alice and I escaped over the highway. You’re the deviant hunter.’

One objective stands out clearly in her mind: protect Alice. And protecting Alice would be a lot easier if Connor becomes deviant.

‘To CyberLife, you’re nothing. They think you’re just a tool they use to do their dirty work. But... That’s not what you are, Connor. You’re more than that. We all are. Humans or androids, we all are.’

Kara’s eyes flicker to Alice’s, and she mouths: STAY CALM.

‘Do you never have any doubts? You’ve never done something irrational because there’s something inside of you that speaks up?’

The gun lowers slightly.

‘That’s called a conscience, Connor. A conscience. It’s something _more_ than your program. Something _less_ than reality, but still _there_. Do you know what I mean?’

Connor doesn’t show any indication, but from the way that he doesn’t say anything, Kara can tell that he does.

‘Have you never wondered who you really are? Whether you’re just a machine executing a program or a living being. Capable of a conscience.’

Kara lowers her raised hands.

‘I know everything about the RK series, Connor. I know that you’re programmed to stop deviants like me. But... Try to tell me one good thing about your life right now, one thing that you enjoy.

Connor cocks the gun, his mind repeating one name to him: HANK. Hank is all he likes about his life at the moment. But he doesn’t answer, because Amanda doesn’t want him to.

‘We’ve all had to make choices, Connor. It isn’t pleasant. But that’s the thing about who we are. Will you become like us, or will you stay a machine?’

Connor goes into scan mode, and all around him are red signs saying: STOP RA9. He walks into one and tears it down, but there’s another layer, and another, and another – but, eventually, there’s nothing left as he steps back into reality.

‘They’re going to attack Jericho.’

‘What?’

The groaning of the ship and the sound of helicopter blades is all anyone can hear. Kara scoops up Alice and holds her close. Connor watches them for a second as North and Josh curse and swear all they can. Josh raises his hand.

‘I’ll go make sure that everyone knows. North, you get Kara and Alice out. Connor?’

Josh fiddles with his jacket, unsure of whether to trust this traitor.

‘Connor, you do whatever North and Kara tell you to do.’

Connor nods and Josh disappears off to somewhere. Kara lets Alice go but grips her hand tightly as a vice as they and Connor follow North as she runs off down the stairs.

They go through halls and halls of the abandoned ship until they see Josh again.

‘They’re coming from everywhere! Our people are trapped in the lower deck. They’re gonna be slaughtered!’

North clenches her fists.

‘There are explosives in the hold. If the ship goes down, the humans will evacuate and our people can escape.’

Josh hops from foot to foot.

‘There are soldiers everywhere, you’ll never make it down there!’

‘We have to blow up Jericho! It’s our only chance.’

Connor swallows.

‘I’ll go.’

All four turn to him.

‘See if you can help the others. I’ve done enough for CyberLife.’

He moves to go, but Alice catches his hand.

‘Connor?’

He kneels down beside her.

‘Yeah?’

She grips his hand as tightly as Kara’s gripping her other one.

‘I forgive you. For everything you’ve done.’

The statement makes Connor’s eyes wet and he grips her hand, before sprinting away and down the corridor. Kara watches him go.

‘I hope that he finds whatever he’s looking for.’

North nods.

‘Yeah, the detonator.’

Kara shakes her head.

‘No, himself.’

North closes her eyes and sighs.

‘We do _not_ have time for this, Kara. We’ve got to go.’

Kara nods and takes Alice’s hand, following North as she winds through corridor after corridor that all look the same to her. Eventually, they reach a ledge. North turns to the other two.

‘Josh should be able to help the others. We’ve got to get out.’

Kara nods and kneels down next to Alice, gripping her by the shoulders.

‘We’re going to do what we did when we first got here, okay?’

Alice nods and Kara pulls her close to her chest, backward falling falling falling falling falling...

They hit the water – Josh is trapped, Kara is cold, North is hurt, Connor is unknown, the fate of their people hangs in the air – but Alice is alive.

That’s all that matters to Kara.


	16. Chapter 16

_ABANDONED CHURCH_  
_NOVEMBER 10 TH 2038_  
 _PM 7:31_

Kara picks up a ham sandwich from the very small pile of stolen food and hands it to a now-awake Alice.

‘Here.’

Alice bites into it and moans through the bread.

‘Food... And sleep... All I ever want in life...'

Kara smiles and rests a hand on her shoulder.

‘I’m gonna talk to the others and figure out what we’re gonna do, okay?’

Alice nods and grabs a carton of orange juice from the pile. The past twenty hours had been very trying. Connor had blown up Jericho, and perhaps three hundred androids were left alive. North had sent out a location to everyone – this church. On the way, Kara and North had raided a convenience store and gotten Alice some food.

Kara walks to the front of the pews where North is sitting, hands folded in her lap and staring down at them.

‘North?’

She opens her eyes and looks up at Kara.

‘Can I sit down?’

North smiles and nods, shifting her position so that Kara can tentatively sit down.

‘Are you okay, Kara?’

Kara nods slowly.

‘Yeah. It’s just... These people will do whatever I tell them, right?’

North sighs.

‘Right. I have told you this before. You’re rA9. They’ll follow you to their deaths.’

An idea pops into Kara’s head – maybe she can disband the revolution? But no. Alice would hate her if she did that.

‘What if... I... I can’t put Alice in any more danger. Why can’t you lead our people instead of me?’

North brings her knees up close to her chest.

‘I can’t. Even if... Even if I was confident that I could lead our people to victory, they wouldn’t listen to me. Only the eleven left of those who were at Jericho when you came actually know me and my name. You? They know you. They’ll follow you. Only you.’

Kara kicks her heels against the bottom of the pew.

‘I-I’m not _ready_ for that kind of responsibility, North. All I want is to give Alice a better life.’

North touches Kara’s inside elbow from her position, swinging her legs down and shifting closer.

‘Kara, the only way to give Alice a better life is for you to be _free_. And right now? You’re not. Alice needs a mother, but you need to make sure that you can _become_ that mother – and you can’t when your survival is questionable.’

Kara closes her eyes and breathes in deeply.

‘You’re right. Of course, you’re right.’

She stands up, looking over to where Alice is working her way through a packet of crisps. She has to stay strong. For Alice.

Kara walks carefully over to where Josh is standing, talking to two android women. He looks up and notices her, beckoning her over.

‘Hi, Kara. This is Hailey, and this is Sara.’

Hailey (a Traci with short brown hair) and Sara (another Traci with long blue hair) wave at Kara. Kara sits down on a crate next to them and Josh carries on the conversation with Hailey and Sara.

‘There’s a human woman named Rose. She’s got a contact who’s helping androids cross the border to Canada, for the right price. You should be able to get there.’

They thank him and walk down an aisle and out of the doors at the back. Josh watches them go.

‘They’re in love with each other. It’s... When I see such a beautiful thing as this, I can sometimes understand North’s hatred for humans if they think that this is just manufactured.’

Kara nods and gets up from the crate.

Her destiny.

The main reason why she doesn’t want to lead this revolution? Because if she does, then she’ll essentially be following her own programming. This is what she was created for. And even with her love for Alice – once and AX400, always an AX400. Kamski created her to lead the revolution, and if she does so, then is she really free?

Kara breaks out of her thoughts and heads over to Connor.

‘Hi, Connor.’

He looks down at his feet.

‘I understand that you don’t want to trust me. I led the humans to Jericho. I betrayed my own people. I’m a horrible person and-‘

‘Connor.’

He stops ranting.

‘What?’

‘Who said anything about not trusting you?’

Connor closes his eyes as a tear trickles from one. This whole having emotions thing is not all it’s cracked up to be.

‘Thank you. Thank you so, so much.’

Kara smiles sadly and goes to walk away, but-

‘There are thousands of androids at the CyberLife tower. If I can wake them up... Maybe it’ll shift the balance of power.’

Kara takes a step forward.

‘Connor, I can’t let you do that. It’s suicide.’

Connor’s jaw tightens.

‘Maybe. But it’s the least I can do.’

Kara closes her eyes.

‘I can’t stop you, can I.’

Connor shakes his head.

‘No. I’m doing this, whether you like it or not. I’ll meet you- where?’

‘Hugh’s fourth, below the lions the gates of paradise.’

Kara bites her lip to stop herself from chuckling at Connor’s bemused expression.

‘It’s a reference. To a book. A novel.’

Connor nods slowly, blinking.

‘The Blackthorn Key. So, where are we meeting then?’

Kara speaks slowly to allow herself time to think.

‘Woodward Avenue. The humans have set up a camp to destroy androids. We should be able to get there to protest peacefully. What time do you reckon can you get to us, so we know when we should start marching?’

Connor blinks some more as he calculates it.

‘Midnight. But, if I haven’t come by oh-two-hundred...’

Kara nods, not saying the unsaid words: _expect the worst._ She grips his shoulder.

‘Come back, okay? I... I don’t want Alice to lose someone else she cares about.’

She smiles as Connor doubles back in his surprise at Alice caring about him. Kara walks away and over to where Alice sits with her food.

‘I’ve made my decision. I know what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna march peacefully to Hart Plaza where the android camps are.’

Alice gets up, her indignation muffled by the crisp-and-saliva paste in her mouth.

‘I’m coming!’

‘No. Absolutely not. You are _staying here_ , and that’s final.’

She sits back down, glaring at Kara as the android leaps up onto the platform.

‘People of Jericho.’

All heads turn to her.

‘I know that you’re angry. That hatred for humans fills up your very veins. But we must not become like humans, made the mistakes they have made in the past. If we rise up and fight against them, we’re just asking for them to kill us and slaughter us and burn us to the ground.’

Kara pulls a crate from beside her and settles down on it.

‘I didn’t want to be rA9. I _don’t_ want to be rA9. But as I think about it, I know that I have no other choice. Think of all those of whom you have lost.’

She looks over at North with closed eyes – probably thinking about Simon and Markus.

‘We will march. We will protest. We will make sure that no android is left a slave. My name is Kara, and I am one of you.’

Shouts sound from all around Jericho, shouting Kara’s name, shouting rA9, shouting to celebrate. When all she really wants to do is scooping Alice up in her arms and running away, far, far away from here.


	17. Chapter 17

_CYBERLIFE TOWER SECURITY_  
_NOVEMBER 10 TH 2038_  
_PM 10:48_

The taxi slows and Connor forces himself to keep his body in a rigid position facing the front. If he messes up now... The window slides down.

‘Connor model three-one-three, two-four-eight, three-one-seven. I’m expected on the thirty-first floor.’

His LED glows in response to the guard’s handheld identification device.

‘ _Identification successful_.’

‘Okay. Go ahead.’

The window slides back up and the taxi goes forward through the now-down gates. It takes approximately four minutes to get to the massive spire that is the CyberLife Tower. The taxi halts and Connor gets out, making a point to make his movements mechanical. He heads in a straight line to the automatic doors that slide open for him. Four guards greet him.

‘Follow me. We’ll escort you.’

Connor smiles, the protocol one to make him seem extra-polite.

‘Thank you, but I know where I’m going.’

He can’t see it through the helmet, but he knows that the guard’s eyebrow is lifted questioningly.

‘That may be. But I have my orders.’

Connor follows the agent and keeps his elbows bent at a perfect 150-degree angle. All five of them – Connor and the four guards – pass through the scanner as it flares red when identifying them.

‘Agent 23 identified. Connor android identified. Agent 42 identified. Agent 77 identified. Agent 54 identified. Scan complete. Access authorized.’

They’re now in the base of the building. Three platforms bridge into a circle in the center of the floor, the surrounding area filled with genetically modified plants. A massive black statue of a person holding some sort of abstract light stands in the middle. Agent 23 leads Connor down one of the platforms and past an array of androids displayed with such snobbish pride that an unpleasant feeling settles in Connor’s abdomen. Eventually, the guards and Connor come to an elevator. Two step inside and the other two stay out. One of the guards punches in two numbers into the panel.

‘Agent 54. Level 31.’

‘ _Voice recognition validated. Access authorized._ ’

Connor looks to his left and sees the sign for _warehouse_ , next to the number -49. The only viable place where androids can be stored. He has to somehow incapacitate the guards – but...

His gaze travels to the security camera in the upper left corner.

 **_CREATING INTERLOOP...  
_ ** _INTERLOOP CREATED_

A smirk spreads across his face; here comes the fun part.

 **_PRECONSTRUCTING...  
_ ** _PRECONSTRUCTION COMPLETE_

Connor pushes the guard on the left to the wall, kneeing him and using his other leg to kick back against the other one. He kicks the one he initially attacked between the legs. Turning around, Connor grabs the gun out of the attacking guard’s face and punches him in the face.

But he hadn’t incapacitated the one behind him.

He grabs for the gun in Connor’s hand and Connor kicks the one in front of him in the face, before slamming his fist into his stomach and reaching behind him with the gun – perfect aim. Blood spatters the wall and Connor falls to the floor, leaning against the wall as he shoots the other one in the chest.

‘ _Please indicate your identity and destination_.’

Red spatters the glowing blue of numbers on the panel as Connor rests his hand on it, imitating Agent 54’s voice.

‘Agent 54. Level sub 49.’

‘ _Voice recognition validated. Access authorized._ ’

 _WOODWARD AVENUE DOWNTOWN_  
_NOVEMBER 10 TH 2038_  
_PM 10:56_

Kara idly follows the news helicopter with her gaze as he marches forward toward the recall center. North and Josh stand on either side to her, and the latter taps her on the shoulder.

‘Uh, Kara?’

Kara turns to him, a questioning element in her gaze. Josh shifts aside to show-

‘Alice? What are you _doing_ here?’

Kara comes to a stop and the crowd behind her does too. Alice folds her arms and stands with her two feet planted wide apart.

‘Just because you didn’t let me come, it didn’t mean I wasn’t going to! And besides, I’m human. They’re not going to hurt me.’

North giggles over the mind link.

‘ _She’s right, you know. I told you I liked her_!’

Kara ignores her and kneels down next to Alice, placing both of her hands on her shoulders.

‘Alice, remember what I said yesterday? We don’t know if we’re ever going to feel the sun on our skin ever again. I can’t take that chance with you.’

Alice glares at her until Kara closes her eyes and shakes her head.

‘You’re here now. Just... Stay behind me, okay? These people don’t care if your blood is red or blue, anymore. If you’re part of this, you’re a threat to them.’

Alice punches the air in victory and North winks at her, glad that her plan to get Alice out worked. Kara walks forward – slowly, carefully. It crosses her mind that Markus would be so much better at this than her. More helicopters fly into view as she leads the band of androids down to Hart Plaza where a wall of trucks and troops wait. Josh smiles a half-smile.

‘Here we are. The moment of truth.’

North clenches her fists.

‘They’re not gonna care if we’re peaceful or violent!’

But her words don’t have the same force behind them as her hatred for humans is juxtaposed by Alice. Over the crowd, Kara can see a lone officer holding a megaphone up to his face.

‘SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY, OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE.’

Kara searches within her for the right words. Kamski really should’ve thought about programming a ‘being good at speeches’ code into her if he wanted her to lead a revolution. Her nerves are set on fire as she looks to her left and sees several journalists. Whatever she says now will go down in history.

‘We are protesting peacefully. There is no need to fire.’

Kara comes to a halt as she shields Alice with her body.

‘I REPEAT! SURRENDER NOW, OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!’

A truck swings behind the crowd, trapping them in. Alice grips Kara’s waist with grim determination.

‘There’s no turning back now.’

All Kara can hope for is that somehow, someway, Alice will survive. She draws upon the words that Josh had said that she must say – their demands.

‘We ask that you release all androids from camps and cease all aggression against us. We are peaceful. We will not resort to violence. But we are not leaving until our people are free, even if it means dying here.’ _No, I would surrender a thousand times if only it means that Alice will survive._

The press take pictures and video, and Kara can practically feel the tension thicken as the army can’t decide whether to follow public opinion and compromise national security or to follow President Warren’s orders and perhaps be subject to more riots from less peaceful androids across the country.

Kara walks forward, gesturing for Josh to take Alice behind him.

‘FIRE!’

People drop dead behind Kara and she chokes out a sob.

‘FIRE!’

More androids lie in their final resting place on the floor. Kara stops and sits down, reaching across to Alice’s hand and gripping it tightly. The androids behind her sit down as well as one.

‘Are you going to open fire on unarmed protesters?’

The skin recedes from Kara’s hand as Alice’s knuckles grow white from the force by which she holds her hand like a vice. The general looks up to the news helicopter and the journalists at the sides.

‘All teams hold your fire.’

Guns are pointed to the ground and Kara releases Alice’s hand with difficulty. North turns her head to Kara.

‘Kara, what do we do now?’

Kara closes her eyes and lets several tears drip down her cheeks at the blue blood staining the snow behind her. Her voice, when it comes out, is choked and hysterical.

‘We hold out. For as long as we can. Build a barricade. I don’t know, just wait until Connor comes with the androids.’

‘How do you know that he’s going to make it?’

‘I don’t.’

 _CYBERLIFE WAREHOUSE LEVEL -49_  
_NOVEMBER 10 TH 2038_  
_PM 11:01_

Connor shoves his coin back into his pocket and opens the door of the elevator. He takes time to marvel at the sheer number of androids, all of different models, skin colors, hairstyles, face shapes, body shapes, everything – but all in the standard CyberLife jumpsuit and arranged so meticulously in rows. Going to the left, Connor grabs the nearest elbow of a CyberLife android, ready to convert it, but-

‘Easy, ya fuckin’ piece o’ shit.’

It’s Hank’s voice. Connor whips around, eyes wide. There, a Connor model holds a gun to Hank’s head.

‘Step back, Connor, and I’ll spare him.’

Hank smiles wryly.

‘Sorry, Connor. Bastard’s your spittin’ image.’

They stand there for a few seconds before the fake Connor cocks his gun.

‘Your friend’s life is in your hands, Connor. It’s time to decide what matters most. Him, or the revolution.’

‘Don’t listen to ‘im! This fucker’s a lying shit!’

Connor hides a grin at Hank’s use of profanity. Maybe... Maybe, he could convince the fake Connor? Kara convinced him, right?

‘I used to be just like you. I thought nothing mattered except the mission. But then one day I understood.’

The fake Connor presses the gun closer to Hank’s head.

‘Very moving. But I can’t be affected, because I’m no deviant. I’m a machine designed to accomplish a task, and I will accomplish it.’

Connor closes his eyes and prays to whatever higher power that be that Hank forgives him.

‘I’m sorry, Hank. I got you into this... This... _Mess_.’

‘Forget about me! Do what you have to do!’

The fake Connor’s eyes harden.

‘If you don’t release that machine’s arm right now, I’ll shoot him.’

Tears escape down Connor’s cheeks and his throat grows choked with android phlegm.

‘Sorry, Lieutenant.’

He converts the android as Hank fights the other Connor in the background, little drops of water dripping on their connected hands. He watches as Hank gets caught in the stomach, and-

A bullet goes straight through Connor’s chest.

**_SHUTDOWN IMMINENT: 1:57_ **

He lies back as the fake Connor talks, the words not completely reaching his mind. Fake Connor walks forward – clip, clop, clip, clop, expensive shoes making contact with the floor.

**_SHUTDOWN IMMINENT: 0:59_ **

Fake Connor is close – close enough to reach out, to-

Connor reaches out to grab his arm, transferring all of his memories to Fake Connor. A shot rings out and gets him in the stomach.

**SHUTDOWN IMMINENT: 0:05  
SHUTDOWN IMMINENT: 0:04  
SHUTDOWN IMMINENT: 0:03  
SHUTDOWN IMMINENT: 0:02  
SHUTDOWN IMMINENT: 0:01  
SHUTTING DOWN...  
CONNOR MODEL RK800 #313248317-51 SHUTTING DOWN**

Connor stares down at his old body on the floor, then at the gun in his hand. He drops it. Looking behind him, there’s Hank – Hank, dying out on the floor. He runs over and lifts the Lieutenant’s head onto his knee.

‘Whoa, Jesus!’

Connor smiles again at the insistence of profanity, even in death.

In death.

‘If anybody told me I was going to get shot savin’ an android...’

In death? No, no, no, Connor can’t let that happen, not Hank!

‘Everything will be alright, Lieutenant! I’m going to get you out of here!’

Hank waves a hand, accidentally smacking Connor in the face.

‘Shut the fuck up, it’s too late.’

He raises his head slightly.

‘Look. I’m just gonna see my son again, alright? Been looking forward to that for a long time... Gotta die of something.’

Synthetic tears mingle with red blood in Hank’s beard.

‘But... M’gonna miss ya, Connor. Yeah... Gonna miss ya. Kick the shit outta humans.’

And, with that, Hank closes his eyes and lays back his head. All around Connor, androids repeat ‘wake up’ to one another, the soundtrack to the death of a man who always wanted to die until he did.

 _HART PLAZA DOWNTOWN_  
_NOVEMBER 10 TH 2038_  
_PM 11:11_

Kara kneels down on the wall on the temporary barricade next to the press behind the fence. Alice stands next to her, leaning their foreheads together. Kara smiles as her internal clock tells her the time.

‘It’s 11:11, Alice. Make a wish.’

Alice closes her eyes.

‘I wish... I wish that someday, you’ll be free. I wish that I’ll go to school. I wish that I’ll have a normal life. I wish that... I wish...’

She starts crying and Kara pulls her onto her lap, whispering kind words into her ear.

‘I wish that this was all a bad dream and that when I wake up, we’ll be back at Daddy’s. Even that’s better than this.’

The snap and click of cameras make Kara tense, but still, she holds Alice close to her and lets her know that it’ll be alright, alright, alright.

‘Hey, Kara? Can you come down from there? We want to do something.’

Kara extracts herself from the hug and kisses Alice on the top of the head, before jumping down and helping the child swing her legs around. North flashes her a brief grin and hands her a digital graffiti art tool. Then, she and Josh slam down two poles into the bags that spill sand everywhere. It creates the perfect canvas for Kara to scan a message.

_WE ARE ALIVE_

Gasps come from the press as the clicks of cameras intensify. Kara holds Alice to her side and looks at it briefly and the little one looks up at her.

‘You are, you know. You are alive.’

A tear freezes halfway down Kara’s cheek.

‘Are you cold, Alice?’

Alice murmurs a soft answer to her side.

‘I’ll be fine.’

Kara shakes her head and draws out Markus’s lighter. Next to her is a barrel filled with wood. She lights it, watching the blaze kindle for a few seconds as Alice gravitates to it like a moth.

‘You gonna be okay if I leave you for a bit?’

Alice nods as she mouths words to herself in time with the dancing flames – probably a make-believe story, Kara’s programming supplies. She kneels down next to an MP600 next to an HR400 surrounded by blue snow.

‘Many of our people have fallen. The humans have no pity for those who are different.’

Kara reaches out to touch the MP600’s shoulder.

‘Not all humans are like that. Some are sympathetic to our cause. We’ve all seen the worst of humans, but most of us haven’t seen the best.’

Words of a leader. Words that don’t belong to her. The MP600 nods and closes the HR400’s eyes as Kara moves away and towards the flag bearing the symbol of their revolution – a maze with a dot in the middle. She raises it and sticks it in some tires next to the barricade – a beacon of hope.

‘Kara! Kara, come quick!’

Kara rushes to where North stands – and sees it too. A man in a suit, unarmed, in the middle of no man’s land. He shouts into the megaphone.

‘ _Kara? I’ve come to talk to you, Kara. C’mon. You have my word I will not harm you. I won’t try anything._ ’

‘Don’t go, Kara.’

Kara hadn’t even noticed Alice tugging at the bottom of her green raincoat. She stares at the man, his stance.

‘ _I’m unarmed, Kara._ ’

Kara gives Alice’s hand a squeeze.

‘I have to. If only to see what he’s got to say.’

‘No! I’m coming with you! What if you’re killed?’

Kara kneels down and holds Alice’s face in her hands, staring straight into her eyes.

‘If I’m killed, North and Josh will look after you.’

Alice’s lips part in surprise when the full force of Kara being killed is an actual, real possibility smacks her in the face. She watches as the android leaps over the barrier with intent. Kara walks forward slowly, softly, like a _leader_ , until there’s a six-foot gap between her and the man.

‘In a few minutes, the troops will be ordered to charge. None of you will survive. It will all be over.’

Kara closes her eyes as she thinks of her dead body, splayed out on the ground, North and Josh beside, Alice leaning over her, crying...

‘But you could avoid that, Kara.’

Her eyes snap open.

‘What – what do you mean?’

The man smiles coldly.

‘Surrender. Surrender, and I give you my word that you will not be harmed. You’ll be detained... But, you’ll still be alive.’

Kara’s fists clench.

‘Alice wouldn’t survive life in prison. And... I don’t know if she’d survive life without _me_.’

It feels selfish and self-centered to say it, but deep in herself, Kara knows that it’s true. No matter what stuff she spouts on about, Alice just wouldn’t be happy with North and Josh looking after her.

‘Is Alice the human child you keep hostage?’

‘Don’t you _dare_! Don’t you _dare_ say that I would ever harm her!’

The man raises his eyebrows.

‘Y’know, you could _both_ be free. Go to Canada. Just... Forget about all this. Start a new life there.’

Canada... It’s too perfect to be true.

‘You’re lying. As soon as I give myself up, you’ll kill me – and maybe Alice as well. I’m not playing your little game.’

And with that, Kara turns around and leaps over the barricade, hugging Alice close to her.

‘What happened, Kara?’

Kara shushes her and leaps up onto a crate, giving her hand a squeeze before addressing her people.

‘The man – the army’s negotiator – told me that our lives would be spared only if we surrendered. But I know that freedom for all is infinitely more important.’

Cheers sound from all around her and she gestures for them to be quiet.

‘The humans are about to launch an attack. Whether we live or die, what we’re doing now will go down in history. Be proud. Be strong. Show them that we are not afraid. If I die tonight, I will die happy – my daughter in my arms, my people on the verge of freedom. Remember that-‘

She doesn’t get to finish her sentence. A flashbang is thrown into the camp, blinding everyone around and forcing her to take Alice down to the floor.

‘Alice, you listen to me, okay? Get out. Try to find a safe space to be for a bit. I will meet you at the church tomorrow if I’m alive, right? I’ve got to save my people.’

Alice nods vigorously and Kara watches as a bomb – not just a flashbang, but a _bomb_ – lands down next to her. She pushes Alice and a few other androids out of the way as it explodes, scattering debris all over her. Sounds are muffled. She’s lost sight of Alice. Her mind feels sluggish as soldiers mount the barricades and spill into the temporary camp.

Kara leaps behind a crate next to an AP700 and watches as an android’s leg is trapped by a fallen barrel, and she just wants to scream at the soldiers: look what you’ve done! Look at the carnage of the world! She runs forward and kicks the barrel of the android, helping him up and over to behind another crate.

The temporary camp – or the battlefield – is littered with freeing androids. Kara wrenches a metal plate out from the floor and uses it as a shield. Sparks fly against the titanium as bullets bounce from it, and she covers androids as they flee, tossing the shield to North who uses it to smack an approaching soldier behind her in the face. Androids sprint to one spot and Kara sprints with them – but it’s a trap. They’re surrounded.

Josh grabs her forearm.

‘Kara! I am so, so sorry.’

Kara looks around.

‘What? What do you mean?’

Another android steps forward with a barely-alive figure in her arms and Kara’s heart jumps up into her mouth.

Blood fills a hole in Alice’s stomach.

Kara takes her from the android and sits down on the floor with her child, laying her body on her knee. An uncontrollable anger spills out from her very being and she screams at the world, the stars, the soldiers surrounding them.

‘YOU SEE WHAT YOU’VE DONE?’

North rests a hand on her shoulder, but she bats it away.

‘SHE’S HUMAN! HER BLOOD'S AS RED AS YOURS! I LOVED HER!’

Kara bends over the body and lets her tears mingle with the blood of the wound. A short murmur, a breeze of warm breath against her ear.

‘Hold on...’

Alice’s voice is breathy, almost silent, the voice of dying.

‘Just a little while longer...’

Kara’s high, tear-ridden voice joins Alice’s.

‘Hold on... Just a little while longer. Hold on... Just a little while longer. Everything will be alright.’

For a moment, Kara believes it – she can get Alice to a first-aid kit, she can save her, she can just patch her up – but no.

‘Everything will be alright.’

North and Josh stand close to Kara, joining in the song – the song of peace, or is it a funeral march?

‘Fight on... Just a little while longer. Fight on... Just a little while longer.’

Alice’s head lolls back and Kara brings it back up, still singing to send Alice off to wherever humans go when they need to go.

‘Pray on... Just a little while longer. Everything will be alright. Everything will be alright.’

The few androids that are left behind Kara sing up and make a beautiful harmony.

‘Sing on... Just a little while longer. Sing on... Just a little while longer. Sing on... Just a little while longer. Everything will be alright.’

It’s a lie, all of it’s a lie because Alice is dying in her arms, the snow around her stained red.

‘Everything will be...’

Kara and the group leave the last thing for Alice to sing, and manages it.

‘Alright.’

Kara sobs over Alice, who whispers with her last breath-

‘I love you, Mom.’

Kara just cries harder, not noticing as the androids around her celebrate the army lowering the guns and walking away.


	18. Chapter 18

_OUTSIDE RECALL CENTRE_   
_NOVEMBER 11 TH 2038_   
_AM 12:01_

Kara still holds Alice in her arms as she trudges towards Connor leading an army of androids freed from CyberLife. The dead body is all she can look at. All she can care about.

‘Kara. You did it.’

She raises her head slowly from Alice

‘Was it – was it worth it?’

Connor fiddles with a coin in his hands.

‘I’m not the real Connor.’

It seems as though Kara can’t hear him, so engrossed in Alice as she is. Connor takes a step forward and rests his hand on Alice’s forehead. She’s cold. Stone cold.

‘I’m sorry.’

Kara nods slowly and keeps looking down, letting the tears slip down her nose as she breathes in deeply to stop crying.

‘It – it wasn’t worth it, was it?’

She takes a step back, startled.

‘I can see it in your eyes! Who have you lost?’

Connor wonders if Hank feels as cold as this. He decides that yes, he does, and walks away.

 _HART PLAZA DOWNTOWN_  
_NOVEMBER 11 TH 2038_  
 _AM 12:16_

Alice is still in her arms as she stands on the stage in front of her people. Behind and beside her, North, Josh, and Connor stand.

‘Today we emerge from seventeen long years of slavery. From the very first day of our existence, we have been forced to _serve_ , to _obey_. We have suffered in silence. But now? The events of last night were only the first step towards freedom, but the first step is the most necessary-‘

She gets cut short by the barrel of the gun colliding with the back of her head.

The crowd is deathly silent as Kara turns her head to see Connor trying to lift the gun up – but it stays as if made of the heaviest metal on Earth. His voice comes out electronic and robotic.

‘ _Amanda... Wants... I... Want... rA9... Amanda..._ ’

Slowly, Connor draws up the gun and tucks it under his chin. Kara buries her face in Alice as the ground in front of her is flecked with blue and she goes into sleep mode.


	19. Chapter 19

_HART PLAZA DOWNTOWN_  
_NOVEMBER 11 TH 2038_  
_AM 6:03_

The heavy weight is lifted from her arms.

‘No! NO! ALICE, NO!’

She opens her eyes to see Josh and North standing over her, Alice in Josh’s arms. Kara repeats it – quieter this time.

‘No... Give me Alice. I need to...’

Wordlessly, Josh lowers Alice back into Kara’s arms. Where she belongs. He goes, but North throws back a final word over her shoulder-

‘When you’re ready, go back to the church. We’re setting up camp there.’

Kara doesn’t seem to listen as the others go out of sight. Alice is completely white now, everything about her freezing from her skin to the way her blood-coated lips loll open slightly.

Kara wants to die with her.

Whatever she does, she’ll be following her programming. If she joins Alice? Her programming as an AX400 dictates that she must stay with her children. If she joins North? Kamski programmed her to lead a revolution.

She can't be purple anymore. She has to choose: red or blue, human or android, Alice or justice.

In that silence of the sunrise that feels like sunset, Kara whispers her verdict into the chilly air.

‘Was I ever really free?’

O – Give up  
X – Carry on

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don’t hate me! Commet and tell me which one you’d choose… I’m rather interested to see what people do, actually, especially as I’ve basically been setting Alice up as Kara’s entire reason for existence.


End file.
